Hope
by JessieWills
Summary: While trying to deal with her grief, Tauriel has to learn to deal with another major change in her life; one that she had not expected. However, is everything as it seems? Will Tauriel every learn to cope with the grief that has taken over?
1. Chapter 1

**So I decided to finally write a Hobbit story because I have fallen in love with Kili and Tauriel and ideas have been filling my mind for days. Also I finally got to see The Battle of the Five Armies last night so I thought it was the right time. **

**I am going to pre-warn that I am entering my second term of university and therefore updates are likely to be slow because I have so much work to do but I really wanted to write this as there is not enough Tauriel/Kili stories out there. **

**I've never written a chapter like this before. Legolas is not going to be one of my central characters, it will be very much focused on Tauriel and Kili, but I wanted to have an outsider to the events explaining what has happened leading up to where this story begins. Hopefully you enjoy this introduction to the story and review because they mean the world to me, especially after the negative comments I have been receiving recently. **

**PROLOGUE **

Legolas could remember when his father had first brought her back after her parents had been slaughtered by orks. She had seemed so lost, cuddled closer than anyone had ever been to his father, and deadly silent. It was a week before she had even said anything to anyone and it had been him who had been fortunate enough to hear her finally whisper that she was scared. In response, had held her close and promised her that no one would ever hurt her and from that moment Tauriel had become the most important person in his world.

Legolas had watched her grow, smirked as her confidence and skill increased to such a height that the other elves had grown wary of her, and had found their friendship growing as the centuries had passed. However, he had also observed from the side lines as Tauriel had allowed herself to fall in love with Kili, sister son of Thorin Oakenshield, a dwarf. He had seen her begin to change, examined the way her allegiances had slowly changed from being completely focused on her people and her King to becoming more fixated on the young prince, and Legolas had been the one who had been left alone when Tauriel had decided to save Kili from the poison that had started to kill him.

"Tauriel," Legolas said quietly as he entered her bedroom, not surprised to find that it was completely dark in the room. Legolas knew that she was in the darkness; he could hear her breathing further in and could faintly see her outline by the window. "Tauriel?" he asked, desperately trying to get her to respond to him. Standing still in the doorway, Legolas couldn't help but remember the young redhead elfling who had once cuddled into their King's side in grief. All of Tauriel's confidence and laughter had disappeared after the battle. Legolas had seen his friend's happiness vanish from her when he had turned to corner to find her clutching Kili's corpse close to her body, tears falling down her cheeks and her body shaking. He had stood back when his father had found them and had tried to comfort the redhead, surprising them both by finally admitting that what had been felt between Kili and Tauriel had been real.

"Tauriel, I know that you are here," Legolas sighed, staring in her direction as he tried to remember the last time she had left her room since their return to Mirkwood. He had been the one who had supported her after Kili had been taken away from her, had ridden with her back to Mirkwood as she had begun to deteriorate in front of him and had returned her to her chambers upon their arrival. He now missed her laughter, her voice, and most of all the life that had once filled her eyes. Tauriel hadn't said anything to him, to anyone, in the four months that had followed since their return and his concern was growing more with every passing day. "Tauriel, you have barely left this room," Legolas commented, finally stepping inside before approaching her bed where she was currently lying in silence. "Talk to me _mellon, _let me help you," Legolas begged as he perched on the edge of her bed and leant across, lighting one of the candles that rested on a bedside cabinet.

Turning when the light slightly filled the room, Legolas sighed when he found himself looking down at his pale friend, who was curled up beside him. Even when Tauriel had been a recently orphaned elfling, he had never seen her as vulnerable as she currently seemed to be. Her hair was flowing freely around her body instead of neatly tied back, her face pale and the light that had once filled her eyes was practically gone. It was almost like she hadn't even noticed his presence beside her.

"_Mellon," _Legolas whispered, his fingers reaching across to brush hair from her face while she shut her eyes at the touch. "My father is worried about you Tauriel, I am worried about you," Legolas commented, trying to start up some sort of conversation with her. He knew that Kili was not a conversation she would want to have, especially with him.

"Your father is not worried about me Legolas," her voice muttered, almost silently as a small smile decorated his face. He was shocked that she viewed their King like this, especially after he had allowed her to return to Mirkwood after being banished, but he was also glad to hear her voice, to hear her make some sort of comment. Just knowing that Tauriel was still there, that she was listening to him meant more to him than anything at that moment. "He still looks upon me with disgust," Tauriel muttered, finally sitting up and brushing the rest of her red hair away from her face before she glanced down at her hands. "I know that you do not understand Legolas, that you cannot understand my feelings for him but it was not revolting like everyone believes, it was not wrong," Tauriel declared before standing and moving towards the large window, her arms wrapping around her body while Legolas sat perfectly still and watched her. "They were not like we believed them to be," Tauriel whispered, mainly to herself, as she stared out of her window at the stars. "They were kind and honourable and devoted to their families."

"And yet they were motivated by gold," Legolas argued, regretting it the moment he said it when she glared at him.

"Yes, some of them were motivated by the gold, but they were also motivated by their need to return home. They just wanted to restore the line of Durin to their family home," Tauriel responded before shaking her head. "Kili was…" Tauriel began before falling silent, Legolas sighing as he stood up and moved towards her. "I wish to be alone," Tauriel suddenly stated, turning to look at her friend as Legolas sighed and nodded. He couldn't force her to let him stay. He just had to be happy that she had spoken for the first time in months.

"I am here for you _mellon," _Legolas stated before leaving the room.

KILLIEL

Hearing the door shut when Legolas finally left, Tauriel shut her eyes to stop the tears from falling down her cheeks before shaking her head. She hated herself. She hated how weak she had become. She had gone from being the Captain of the Guard to a woman who could not cope, a woman she had never once believed she would become. Moving towards the window again, Tauriel sighed when she found herself looking up at the stars that she had once loved.

_It is memory; precious and pure…_

Kili.

Kili was nothing but a beloved memory now. A memory for her to cherish and grieve as her life continued without him by her side. He was amongst the starlight now.

"I'm sorry my love," Tauriel whispered, continuing to look up at the white lights as she finally allowed herself to move her hand to her abdomen, her fingers slowly running across the small bump that had recently begun to appear noticeable.

**So what do you think? Love it? Hate it? Want more? Never want me to write again? Let me know. **

**I know that Tauriel seems really out of character at this point but I think that Kili's death would have been a major shock for her and I don't think she would know how to deal with herself. I don't know, you might agree with how I've presented her or hate it. She's such a wonderful character and I won't be happy if she's completely wrong in a lot of your opinions. **


	2. Chapter 2

**Thank you so much for the amazing response to the first chapter. I was completely shocked by the amount of lovely comments you all wrote and the amount of people who favourite and followed! You are all amazing! I, therefore, couldn't help but try and get a chapter up as fast as I could as a thank you for you all being so wonderful. **

Tauriel had been shocked when she had finally realised that Kili's child was growing inside her.

Then she had been scared. She had never thought she would be a mother and the idea of caring for a life terrified her.

The happiness had followed afterwards. Complete joy that her love for Kili and his for her had resulted in the creation of a child; this miracle that was growing inside her. That she would always have a connection to the dwarf.

Finally, she had been plagued with agonising guilt. Guilt that their child would never know their father, the guilt because their child would never be accepted in either elfish or dwarfish lands because of how 'wrong' their love was perceived to be and finally, the most painful, the guilt that she had not been able to protect the dwarf she loved from death.

Now, she couldn't even manage to stop the grief. Everything made her think of him, made her think of her failure to save him. Even the child growing inside her, the child that should have brought her hope, made her grieve more than she had ever thought possible. She knew that Legolas worried for her, she knew that the other elves were becoming concerned because she barely left her rooms but she couldn't cope with the looks they would give her if she ever left. She was not ignorant to her people's opinions; she knew that they would never understand her feelings for Kili and that they would continue to look upon her with disgust, like Thranduil now did. Yes, Thranduil had accepted that she had loved the dwarf when he had found her with Kili but she knew, she understood that it would never be seen as acceptable by the elfish king or his people. She had fallen in love with a dwarf prince, had given herself completely to him and now she carried his child.

She didn't even want to imagine what anyone would do if they learnt what she was currently trying her hardest to conceal.

"He would have the greatest father to you," Tauriel whispered, glancing down at the small bump while her fingers gently brushed across it. She often found herself running her fingers across the only indication of her pregnancy, subconsciously checking that their child was still there. "He would have loved you more than anything in this world," the redhead continued. "I should have done more to protect him, I should have saved him. I am sorry that I failed your father," she muttered, her eyes shutting tightly as she rested her hand against her bump and bit into her lip.

Why did she always seem to cry?

Why did it hurt her still after months had passed?

Why did the love that once made her so happy now hurt her?

"I have nothing of his to give you when you are arrive," Tauriel whispered as she sat up on her bed and glanced down at her abdomen, her fingers moving across it again. "You will never know how he laughed, how deeply he would have loved you or the sound of his voice when he told stories," she mumbled, tears running down her cheeks as she shook her head. "Oh, his stories were wonderful. He would have told you all sorts of stories, tales about his various adventures and his family," Tauriel laughed sadly before shaking her head. She would never do Kili's stories justice. His tales of fire moons and trolls. Stories that he had told her through prison bars and then later when curled up beside her on only night together.

_"I was nearly eaten by a troll once," Kili blurted out as he glanced down at the elf who was cuddled into his side, her eyes looking up at him while his fingers traced symbols onto her bare back. "Fili and I weren't being as watchful as we were supposed to be and they stole our ponies to eat," he stated, his body moving to face her while she brushed her own fingers across his stubble. When she had first seen him, the stubble had seemed strange but now, she found it a part of what made him attractive to her. It made him different from the elves she had grown up with and she adored that he was not one of those graceful men of her homeland. "But this is not the right time to be telling stories," Kili whispered, glancing around the dark room before her hand rested against her cheek and brought him back to look at her. _

_"Now is the perfect time to be telling stories," Tauriel stated before leaning across and brushing her lips against his. "What happened next?" the redhead asked against his lips, smiling to herself when he laughed and stared at her. _

_"We sent Bilbo, our hobbit, to try and rescue the ponies before Thorin found out but of course, he managed to get caught," Kili sighed, wrapping his arm around the redhead's hips to bring her close to his body again. "We went and got the others and we tried to attack the trolls but unfortunately that wasn't very successful either," Kili muttered, his smile growing as Tauriel began to kiss his neck. "I thought you wanted to hear the story," Kili laughed. _

_"I am listening, of course I am listening," the redhead responded, moving away from his neck as he shook his head at her. _

_"We were captured and put into sacks, some of us were even tied to a spit over a fire and they began to argue over how to cook us," Kili declared, his fingers beginning to lightly play with her hair. "Bilbo tried to delay them by telling them that we had parasites," he stated, his laughter growing when the redhead sat up at the word parasites and stared down at him, clinging the thin sheet around her torso. _

_"Parasites?" Tauriel asked, glancing down at him while he continued to laugh. _

_"I don't have parasites," Kili smiled before he sat up and stared at her. "Although at that moment I was trying to compete with everyone by saying that I had the largest ones of the whole company," Kili stated, moving as close to her as he could while her smile continued to grow. "Fortunately for us, Gandalf arrived at the moment, cracked this rock in half and the trolls turned to stone in the sunlight," the brunette dwarf summarised as Tauriel leant across and gently brushed her lips against his chin before moving closer to his lips, Kili's arm sneaking around waist to tightly press her against his body. "Would you like to hear another story?" the dwarf whispered as he gently kissed her neck, the redhead's eyes shutting while her smile grew at the touch, her head nodding slowly. "It's about a dwarf," Kili whispered as he moved, his body turning them so that she ended up lying beneath him. _

_"Of course it is about a dwarf," Tauriel muttered, receiving a glare in response._

_"A dwarf, who was once seen as reckless," Kili continued as his fingers gently moved the sheet away from her body. _

_"And who is still seen as reckless," Tauriel adjusted, laughing when Kili stared down at her. Bringing her hand to his cheek, Tauriel watched as he leant down before he pressed his lips to hers, her hands moving to his hair while his hand ran down her side, enjoying the feeling of her soft skin against his rough fingertips. _

_"His recklessness could be debated," Kili muttered when they pulled away slightly, her fingers remaining in his hair while he stared at her. "This debatably reckless dwarf was walking through a forest with some others when they were attacked by spiders. The dwarf was separated from his companions when the spiders tried to attack him again," Kili declared, Tauriel's head shaking while she wrapped one of her legs around his hips. "But all of a sudden this elf arrived and killed the spiders that were attacking him." _

_"Kili, I know this story," Tauriel remarked, falling silent when he shook his head. _

_"You do not know the entire story," Kili stated, not surprised when the redhead fell silent and brushed her fingers through his hair again. "When this dwarf turned around to look at the elf who had saved him, he finally was able to see how beautiful she was. Although he had been brought up to hate the elves, the dwarf couldn't help but find her completely enchanting," Kili admitted, his fingers brushing across her cheek as she continued to stare up at him. "And from the moment that he first found himself looking at her, he knew that this elf was special," Kili continued, unable to take his eyes off her. "But it wasn't until a conversation later on about stars that he realised that he had strong feelings for her," the dwarf muttered, surprised when the redhead leant up and kissed him, her arms wrapping tightly around his neck as he moaned into her mouth. "And he never wanted to be apart from her again." _

_"Kili," Tauriel whispered. "When we leave this room… when tomorrow comes, promise me that you will not be reckless," the redhead begged, her fingers brushing across his cheeks as she stared up at him, seeing the small grin that decorated his face. "Kili, I mean it, promise me that you will not do anything foolish." _

_"I promise, of course I promise," he declared, kissing her again. "When my kin have regained the mountain and my uncle is crowned King, we will find a way to be together," he smiled against her lips, his forehead resting against hers as they both smiled, aware that they were only dreaming of their future._

"Tauriel," a voice called out, pulling her away from her thoughts and forcing her to look at the door. "Tauriel, King Thranduil wishes to see you."

**Not much really happened in this chapter but things will start to happen in the next few chapters but for some reason this was the chapter that wanted to be written. **

**Please let me know what you think. Do you like the flashback aspect of the chapter? Would you like more or none at all? **

**Thank you again for your amazing response, I hope you continue to enjoy and review. **


	3. Chapter 3

**I really struggled with this chapter and became angry with myself for a while for leaving it on that cliff-hanger. However, I knew that we needed to have a Thranduil/Tauriel conversation at some point in the story and I might as well try and write it and fortunately, my family are so dull tonight I managed to write something. **

**Thank you for your amazing reviews to the last two chapters. They've been incredible and so lovely to read. You are all wonderful and I wish you all who reviewed, followed and favourite a Happy New Year and a wonderful 2015. **

Tauriel had never thought of Thranduil as terrifying before.

He had intimidated her when she was young elfling, but he had also been the elf who had comforted her after her parent's death. He hadn't pulled her away when she had clung to him in fear after the elves had found her. He had told her stories, kept her safe and treated her like his own child. She had been brought up with the Prince, treated with the upmost respect and loved by many.

Even when she had served him as a guard he hadn't scared her. Thranduil had of course intimidated her and she would never have disobeyed him but she was never scared of him. She had always been grateful to him. He had saved her life, given her every opportunity possible and had rewarded her with the title of Captain of the Guard. The title that he had taken away from her just as quickly as he had given it to her. She had been so proud the day that she was made Captain. Most of the elves had believed that it wouldn't happen because she was so young and a woman but Thranduil had smirked at them when she beat them in trials and shown herself to be one of his strongest guards. He had awarded her in front of a large crowd of guards, many of whom were the elves who had complained about her possibly receiving the title. They had celebrated, drunk and Thranduil had told her that he was proud of her. She could remember smiling in happiness at being told by that by the figure she had tried so hard to impress.

Even the first time she had disobeyed him by going after the dwarves and then threatened him by pointing an arrow at him, she had been far from scared. When she had saved Kili, she knew that Thranduil would not be happy with her disobedience. She had known that she would be most likely banished, forced out of her home and left to her own devices but she hadn't cared. She had seen what she could do if she simply left their borders when she had sat beside a healing Kili. She had wanted to save lives, stop the evil from spreading, not hide away inside the borders of her home. Kili had awoken the need in her more than she had ever thought possible.

Threatening her king had been her desperate attempt to protect the man she loved and his kin. She had wanted to save Kili and the dwarves and she was not going to allow Thranduil to let them die. Even when he had destroyed her bow, told her that her love wasn't real and threatened her life, she hadn't been scared. She had found herself hating him. Found herself, hating the elf who had once been a father to her. She had loved him once but at that moment, when his sword was pressed against her, she had never hated anyone as much as she did him. He would have allowed Kili to die to remain safely hidden away. He wouldn't risk his people's lives to save thousands of others, even though they were the stronger army. He had wanted to stay away from the danger and she would never forgive him for that.

However, standing in front of her King now as he sat on his throne, scared her. He hadn't said anything since she had arrived to find that there were no guards present. It was only her and him. He was staring at her in complete silence and that terrified her. She didn't know why she had been called for an audience and she still feared that he would learn about her baby. She had tried to hide the change to her figure, pulling on a thick cloak she owed and making the guard even more frustrated because she had taken so long to find it. She had never really worn it before. She barely felt the cold and it wasn't a particularly necessary item in her wardrobe but it would hide her figure to some extent.

"It is nice to see that you have left your room Tauriel," Thranduil finally commented, his voice cold as she nodded slowly, not knowing how to respond. She desperately wanted to return to the comfort of her dark room where no one could judge her. She wanted to hide away and keep her baby safe from the elves who may wish harm upon her child because they viewed it as an abomination. "You are cold," Thranduil said quietly, almost like he was concerned, as he glanced down at the dark material that was wrapped around her. "Are you unwell?" he asked.

"No my lord," Tauriel finally responded, her voice almost silent, while his eyes remained on her. She knew that he didn't believe her. She wouldn't be wearing a cloak if she was feeling healthy. "I am just tired," the redhead continued, desperately trying to stop him worrying about her. She knew that if he became concerned enough he would order a healer to see him and she would not be able to turn them away. A healer would learn the truth and would be forced to tell their king the truth. "I have not been sleeping well since…" she admitted, not remembering the last time she had slept through the night. It was not like she had even grown used to having Kili beside her at night. They had spent one cherished evening together and that had been it. They had spent every night with one another. They had been fortunate just to have that one night alone together.

"Maybe a healer would be able to give you something to help you sleep Tauriel," Thranduil suggested, shocking her by how completely worried he sounded. He had moved forward in his seat, almost like he was desperate to move towards her but was stopping himself. "Legolas told me that you finally allowed him to see you," Thranduil commented. "He has been worried about you, we have both been concerned with your behaviour recently," he declared.

"I apologise for worrying you both," Tauriel said quietly. She hadn't planned to worry anyone but she hadn't thought about anyone else. She was confused. Thranduil had banished her and yet had allowed her to return to Mirkwood. He had hated the very thought of her relationship with Kili and yet had tried to comfort her when he had discovered her with his body. He had clearly been frustrated when she had entered the room but now seemed concerned about her wellbeing. She would have preferred to know that he hated her rather than be stuck with this feeling of complete uncertainty. "I am sure you didn't ask for me to discuss my health," Tauriel commented, remaining still when Thranduil laughed in response.

"No I did not Tauriel," Thranduil stated before reaching across for a piece of parchment that she had not noticed. "I received a parchment this morning," he explained, confusion covering Tauriel's face at his statement. What did a parchment have to do with her? She knew no one outside of their borders. The parchment clearly couldn't have anything to do with her. "We have been informed that Thorin will be crowned King under the Mountain in a week. I wish to send you and Legolas as representatives," the King declared, noticing the complete shock that decorated her face at his news. Thorin was still alive?

"Thorin survived?" Tauriel asked quietly. He was still alive? "He is alive?" she questioned, her King nodding as she smiled weakly. Although she knew that Thorin would have disapproved of her love for his nephew, she was glad to hear that one of the line of Durin had survived the battle. Then it hit her. "You want to send me to Erebor?" the redhead asked, panic suddenly covering her face. "But I…" she began. The idea of returning to the place where Kili had fallen and the halls where he and Fili were buried panicked her. She didn't want to face the dwarves when she felt so guilty for their loss. She should have been able to protect Kili but she failed. Here she could hide away in her rooms but if she went to Erebor, all eyes would be on her. The dwarves still didn't trust the elves, she was aware that that was unlikely to change even after they had fought together at the battle. She would be watched with an equal amount of dislike as she was stared at her. "I do not feel that I would be the most appropriate person to attend on your behalf," Tauriel said quietly, aware that it was unlikely that she would be able to change his decision. Thranduil had made his mind up and he often didn't listen to others opinions.

"You are the most appropriate person to attend this coronation Tauriel. You understand the dwarves and I know Legolas would like your company," Thranduil stated before standing and slowly moving down the steps towards her. She suddenly felt panicked. If he got too close to her there was a greater chance that he would find out the truth. "I also think that it would be good for you Tauriel," he said honestly, his voice calm as he reached her and smiled. "You have been hiding away in your room since your return and I know that you are grieving for the dwarf but you cannot hide away forever," the blonde declared before reaching out and resting his hand on her shoulder, her eyes looking up at him as she bit into her lip. "You are immortal and you are not fading Tauriel, you need to leave your room and start living your life again," Thranduil declared as she nodded slowly, aware that he would never change his mind. "I have allowed you to return to Mirkwood, do you not feel happy to have be welcomed back to your home?" he asked, clearly getting frustrated with her. He was right. He had allowed her to return after banishment, after she had disobeyed his orders and she was not obeying him. She was not showing herself to be grateful like he believed she should be. She was instead hiding away in the darkness, ignoring the rest of the world around her.

"When do we leave?" Tauriel asked quietly, trying desperately to be grateful.

"Tomorrow," Thranduil stated. "They have apparently planned numerous festivities for the coronation," her King explained, the redhead not surprised that the dwarves had organised various celebrations. She had learnt from Kili that they loved music, food and drink and were extremely fond of any form of celebration. After all the tragedy that had occurred to them with the battle, she wasn't surprised that they would celebrate the first good event to happen after they had taken back their homeland. "You might have fun Tauriel," Thranduil commented as she nodded slowly, smiling weakly at him before she began to move towards the exit. "You do know that I care about you Tauriel?" Thranduil suddenly asked once she had her back to him, her eyes shutting at his question. "You were always so happy and spirited, I would like to see her return," Thranduil continued as Tauriel bit into her lip, suddenly aware of the tears that were threatening to spill. He would not care for her again when he learnt the truth, learnt that she had given herself completely to their enemy and conceived a child.

"So would I," Tauriel admitted before slowly walking away from the throne room, aware that their conversation was now over. "But she is lost I think," Tauriel whispered to herself, returning to the safety of her bedroom.

**What do you think? I know some of you will not like that Thranduil didn't sense her pregnancy but it wouldn't work for my story. I do have a plan for when he will know about the baby but there is a lot more to happen before that and I hope you continue to enjoy the story. **

**Please review, I do love to hear from you. **

**Also, I forgot to ask that if anyone has any suggestions for anything that want to see in the story do let me know and I will try my best to fit in at some point. This story is as much for you as it is for me. **


	4. Chapter 4

**You guys are seriously amazing! Your reviews have all been so lovely and I love knowing that you are enjoying the story. This is the longest chapter yet and has another flashback because Kili is just so lovely and I miss him in this story, if I'm honest. **

_"I can see you," Kili called out as Tauriel stood in the corner of the darkened room, watching him. She had not left the room even after the others had retired to try and get some sleep. Fili had taken the most persuasion out of all the dwarves to try and get some sleep but Tauriel had promised to watch his brother and get him if Kili's condition deteriorated. "Tauriel," Kili whispered, his voice almost silent as a small smile decorated her face. "Stop hiding in the shadows," the dwarf ordered, a laugh leaving his lips as she breathed out and slowly began to walk towards him. They had had a brief conversation after she had healed him but neither of them had discussed what he had told her while she had been healing him. "You managed to get Fili to get some sleep," Kili commented. _

_"I promised him that I would watch you and get him if anything changed. He was exhausted," the elf explained, smiling when Kili nodded and held his hand out, indicating for her to come closer. "You look a lot better now," the redhead admitted, taking in how the colour had returned to his face, a laugh leaving her lips when he grinned at her. "How do you feel?" Tauriel asked quietly, sitting down on the edge of the table as the dwarf shrugged. _

_"I don't feel like I'm dying anymore," Kili admitted, Tauriel's head shaking as he laughed gently. "You saved me," Kili whispered, his hand reaching across to grasp hers. Glancing down as their fingers laced together, Tauriel smiled weakly before glancing across at the dwarf. How did he make her feel like this when they barely knew each other? She had been relieved when she had healed him, to know that he would survive and her disobedience had been worth it. "I thought I'd never see you again," Kili admitted quietly, shocking the elf. "I thought I was going to die and I would never see you again." _

_"I didn't think I would make it in time," the redhead admitted, remembering how panicked she had felt when she had first entered Lake Town. "When I saw you, when I saw how sick you were," Tauriel mumbled, her eyes shutting as she tried to remain strong. She wasn't going to let him see her cry over something that hadn't happened. "I…" she began, falling silent when his fingers brushed against her cheek. _

_"Lie down," Kili smiled, confusion covering Tauriel's face as she opened her eyes and stared at him. What had he just asked? "Lie down with me," the dwarf smirked, moving slightly on the table as the redhead laughed gently. _

_"I don't think your kin would approve if they found us like that," Tauriel mumbled, glancing across at the door to the room where Fili and the two other dwarves were currently sleeping. "You should be resting Kili. You nearly died today," the redhead stated, suddenly feeling uncomfortable. He wanted her to lie down with him? _

_"I wouldn't be doing anything," Kili smiled as he held up their joined hands. "You know how I feel," he declared, moving to sit up. Opening her mouth to argue with him, Tauriel quickly shut it when his palm rested against her cheek. "I promise, I won't do anything, we will just lie here, on this table. If you want, I won't even touch you. We just be an elf and a dwarf, lying on a table, together," Kili declared, his smile growing when she laughed gently and shook her head at him. "You promised my brother that you would watch me and I can't think of a better place to look after me than here. It's an improvement from standing in the corner of the room," he added, the redhead laughing before she moved to lie in the space beside him, Kili quickly lying down on his side to look at her. "See, I'm not that scary," he whispered, both of them laughing together before she brushed her fingers across his cheek. Why did he have this effect on her? If anyone else had asked her what he had done, she knew that she wouldn't have laid down beside them and they probably would have left her company in a lot of pain. _

_"Where are the rest of your company?" Tauriel asked quietly, worried that one of his kin would walk in and see her, their enemy, lying with him. _

_"They went ahead. Uncle wouldn't allow me to go with them because I was too ill, Fili and Oin said they would stay with me and Bofur was hungover and missed the boat so he didn't really have a choice," Kili explained quietly, suddenly aware of how silent the house was. "They are most likely nearly there now," the young dwarf admitted. "I wanted to be there, when we entered the mountain and reclaimed our homeland." _

_"If you had gone, you would be dead by now," Tauriel said quietly, the dwarf nodding before shutting his eyes. "Your brother and uncle would be grieving and I…" she began before falling silent. If Kili had died, how would she have felt? She didn't even know anymore. Kili had suddenly become a part of her life, without her even noticing and she couldn't imagine life without him even though he had only been her prisoner. "I would have grieved," she admitted. _

_"Would you?" Kili asked quietly, his eyes opening to look at her. _

_"Yes," Tauriel smiled before leaning across and pressing a kiss to his cheek. "Of course I would have," Tauriel continued, aware that the dwarf was now completely focused on her. "I don't lie next to just anyone," she laughed gently, becoming nervous when Kili moved slightly closer to her. "Tell me about Erebor," Tauriel suddenly blurted out, not completely sure where the request had come from. _

_"I grew up with stories about Erebor. Uncle would tell Fili and I about it when we were little and when we would reclaim our homeland together, when he would become King under the Mountain and we would be his heirs," Kili smiled. "He would tell us about how grand it was, how it was the only place we would ever truly call home," he admitted as Tauriel smiled, taking in the sadness that filled his eyes. "The throne sits in this massive hall and everything looks green. The Arkenstone has a special place above the throne because it's the king's jewel and it is apparently the most beautiful thing any dwarf has looked upon," Kili declared as Tauriel remained silent, watching him in amazement. She loved his stories; he seemed to have a way with words that she couldn't understand. "One day I will show you Erebor." _

_"You would take me to Erebor?" Tauriel asked quietly as the dwarf nodded, his smile continuing to grow. _

_"Of course I would," Kili responded. "You saved my life and I want to show you. I have seen your home," he began. _

_"Not properly. You have only seen our dungeons and the darkness that has taken over our forest. It was once so beautiful, so happy," Tauriel whispered before shaking her head, a smile appearing on her face again as the dwarf sighed. _

_"I want to show you the halls of my kin one day. It is so different to Mirkwood Tauriel, it would be like nothing you have ever seen before," Kili said, his voice full of excitement. She still couldn't believe that he wanted to show her Erebor, that he wanted to show her what was going to become her world. "You could see how great we dwarves actually are. You could see that we are skilled and have these great kingdoms, kingdoms to rival you elves," Kili continued before sitting up and looking down at her. _

_"I have already been surprised by how different you dwarves are to how what we were taught," she admitted, glancing down at their joined hands before she sat up and stared at him. "I have learnt that you are devoted to one another, that family is one of the most important things in your lives and you…" she began before falling silent for a moment. "You have taught me that you don't hide away in mountains. You have shown me that you appreciate the world and see what is beautiful in it." _

_"You have changed my opinion of elves too," Kili admitted, her eyebrows rising in surprise. "Although your King and that blonde one are like we were taught, you are different. You are kind, you weren't ever cruel to us when we were your prisoners and you're not like other elves. Of course you're graceful and elegant like all elves but you, you are also strong and passionate and different to the female elves we saw at Rivendell. You don't sit and play instruments and read poetry, you are a fighter," the dwarf explained, his fingers brushing across her cheek again as she began to blush. "You are also very beautiful," Kili added, their eyes locking as she bit into her lip. "I think you are the most beautiful woman I have ever seen," he continued, Tauriel smiling to herself before she leant forward and gently brushed her lips against his. She was kissing Kili. She was actually kissing Kili. Feeling his hand move to the small of her back, Tauriel slowly moved back before looking into the dwarf's eyes. "You kissed me," his voice full of amazement as she nodded slowly. _

_"I kissed you," Tauriel whispered. "Was it…" she began nervously, falling silent when he laughed gently. _

_"It was wonderful. It was better than wonderful, it was the greatest thing to ever happen to me," Kili declared, his smile growing as the redhead laughed and moved to kiss him again. _

Sighing, Tauriel slowly looked around to see Legolas standing in the doorway, watching her again in complete silence.

"You were miles away," Legolas commented quietly as Tauriel nodded, wrapping the cloak she was still wearing tighter around her body. Watching him move into her room, Tauriel smiled shyly when he shut the door and began to approach her. "Tell me what you were thinking about," the blonde whispered, desperate to understand what had captivated his friend.

"I was remembering Kili," Tauriel said honestly, a small smile gracing her face as she moved towards the window. "He wanted to take me to Erebor. He wanted to show me the halls of his kin and show me how skilled the dwarves are," she admitted before looking across at Legolas again. "I guess I at least get to see what he cherished so much," Tauriel mumbled, shaking her head in frustration. "I do not want to go," Tauriel blurted out, shocked when Legolas' hand took hold of hers and squeezed it tightly. "I don't want to go to Erebor. I don't want to see those who grieve for him. I do not want to be introduced to his uncle, to meet someone who would have hated our relationship. I do not want to see the halls of Erebor without Kili by my side," Tauriel sobbed, the blonde bringing her closer before she rested her head against his chest.

"But you could say goodbye," Legolas whispered into her hair, not knowing how best to comfort her. He had never had to deal with someone who grieved. His father had been grieving for his mother for as long as he could remember and he wouldn't have ever tried to comfort him but Tauriel was different. Tauriel was like a sister to him. He cared about her and hated seeing her in this pain and he wanted to help. He wanted to make her feel better; he wanted to see her smile. "Maybe, after we have been to Erebor and you have had the chance to say goodbye, you might be able to move on," Legolas said quietly, not surprised when she glared up at him.

"You think it is that easy to let him go?" Tauriel asked, removing herself from his arms before she stepped away. "I loved him and he loved me. He made me feel complete, he understood everything I felt," Tauriel declared. "I cannot move on. It is impossible for me to just end this part of my life and act like it never happened," Tauriel stated, her head shaking as she stared at her friend. Why didn't he understand? "I will never be able to move on," Tauriel stated.

"Why won't you Tauriel? You are still young, you are immortal." Legolas declared, watching her as she began to pace in the space in front of him.

"You don't understand," Tauriel responded, desperate for him to leave. He would never understand. He had never felt like she had for Kili. He wouldn't understand the attachment that had existed between them.

"Then help me to understand," Legolas begged. "You are like my sister mellon, I hate to see you like this but I do not understand. I do not understand how you feel or why you act the way you do because you refuse to talk to me," the blonde explained, moving towards her again when she finally stopped pacing. "We used to tell each other everything, do you remember? Father hated that we knew everything about one another," he asked quietly, brushing stray hair from her face as tears began to run down her pale cheeks. "We used to sit up at night together and tell each other all our secrets. Why will you not trust me now Tauriel?" he questioned. "I would have faced banishment to protect you Tauriel; I disobeyed my father for you. I even protected you when our King, my father, threatened to hurt you when he learnt that you loved our enemy."

"And I will always be grateful to you Legolas," Tauriel whispered before gently pressing a kiss to his cheek. "But you can't possibly understand how I feel," she mumbled, stepping away from him slowly and shaking her head. "Can you please leave?" she asked quietly, glancing across at him to see the disappointment that decorated his face at her request. "I'm tired," she added quietly, not wanting him to think she hated him.

"Of course, I will see you in the morning," Legolas nodded, forcing himself to smile before he moved towards her door and left the room. Hearing the door close, Tauriel found herself breathing out before quickly removing the heavy cloak and brushing her hands across her abdomen.

"I do love you," Tauriel said quietly, glancing down at the bump before smiling to herself. "I know it must seem like I don't at times but I do, more than you will ever know."

**What do you think? There are moments in this chapter that I love and some I hate. I had a variety of endings as well but I think this one worked best with the chapter. **

**Please review, I really do love hearing from you. **


	5. Chapter 5

**Pre-warning, I hate this chapter and it certainly isn't the best one. I found it a nightmare to write and I don't like it but I couldn't think of anything else so I hope you enjoy it. **

**I want to thank you again for your wonderful reviews to every chapter. You are all so kind in your comments and I love to hear your thoughts and ideas on the story. I wouldn't enjoy writing this without you. You are seriously the most fun and nicest fandom I have written for. **

**Also to those asking when I'm going to return to the Mr Selfridge stories. I am planning on going back to them soon but I have had major writers block and am hoping the new series will inspire me again. **

**Anyway, here's the chapter…**

She hadn't even realised where she was going until she had arrived.

Stopping her horse, Tauriel found herself staring in shock at the ruins of Lake Town and the beach that stood in front of her and Legolas. Shaking her head, the redhead quickly dismounted her horse and slowly began to walk towards the beach, ignoring Legolas' calls behind her. She hadn't even thought that they might go this way. Since they'd left Mirkwood that morning, she had followed Legolas while in her own world, trying to remain calm as they moved closer and closer to Erebor. She had found herself panicking about every tiny detail and they hadn't even reached Dale yet. She had panicked that her clothes wouldn't be appropriate, that the dwarves would show openly their hatred for her, that Legolas would offend someone without meaning too, that the dwarves would sense her pregnancy somehow. The whole journey to where they were now had been full of more and more panic and every second she had wanted to turn around, now even more than ever.

"Tauriel," Legolas said quietly, approaching her as she stood perfectly still by the water's edge.

"I talked to him for the last time here," Tauriel whispered, remembering Kili's large smile and the hope that had filled his eyes when he had pressed the runestone into her hand. "He wanted me to go with him to Erebor," the redhead smiled weakly, aware that there were tears now running down her cheeks and Legolas was still watching her in silence. She was aware that this was the first time she had told him anything about her relationship with Kili and he was probably amazed that she was being so open with him after refusing to be the previous evening. "He told me he loved me," Tauriel laughed gently before turning to face her friend, the blonde smiling weakly at her as she brushed the tears away from her face. "I never told him," Tauriel whispered, shocked when Legolas walked over and wrapped his arms around her, allowing her to bury her face against his chest. "He never knew."

"I'm sure he did," Legolas responded quietly, keeping her close as she shook his head.

"He died and never truly knew how I felt," Tauriel sobbed, aware that she was making her friends clothes damp with her tears. "I love him Legolas," the redhead continued, Legolas' arms tightening around her body while she fell silent. She had loved Kili more than she had thought possible and although she was sure that he knew how she felt, she regretted more than anything that she hadn't told him. She had never whispered the words to me, given him that complete certainty that she held in her heart. He might have died with part of him doubting that her feelings hadn't been as strong as his or hadn't been the same. He could have thought their night together didn't mean as much to her as it did to him.

"Let's sit for a while," Legolas whispered, slowly leading away from the water before they both sat down on the stones and stared at the ruined town ahead of them. "It's incredible to think that you were in the middle of that," the blonde elf commented, staring at the destruction in front of him. When he had seen Lake Town burning, he had been certain that it was the end of his friend but the following day he had found her on the beach with Kili and had been relieved that she was alive. "I thought I had lost you that day," Legolas admitted for the first time, a sad smile decorating Tauriel's face as she glanced up at him and took hold of his hand, squeezing it tightly before she sighed. "He did know that you loved him Tauriel, don't ever doubt that _mellon_," Legolas said quietly, aware that he had changed the conversation back.

"When we were waiting in Gundabad, I had decided that I was going to go with him after the battle had finished," Tauriel confessed, her head shaking again at the memory. She had been sat in silence with Legolas when it had suddenly occurred to her that she didn't care what any thought of her relationship and Kili was the person she wanted to spend her life with. "I realised I didn't care anymore what our kin thought about us," the redhead whispered. "I was going to find him after the battle and tell him I loved him and that I was going to spend my life with him," she continued, tears running down her cheeks as Legolas wrapped an arm around her shoulders and pulled her close to him. "We were going to have this wonderful future together," Tauriel said quietly before resting against her friend's side and sighing. "I am sorry for boring you."

"You could never bore me Tauriel," Legolas said quietly. "You are like my sister, you can tell me anything. I am just happy to hear you talking about him," he explained, the redhead smiling weakly before she leant up and pressed a kiss to his cheek. "Shall we carry on?" he asked, feeling her tense beside him at his question. "Tauriel?" he questioned, her head nodding before she stood up and moved towards the water again.

"What if they hate me?" Tauriel asked, the blonde elf laughing gently before falling silent. He had never seen Tauriel so nervous to go somewhere. She had always been proud to represent her King and he had never seen her worried about meeting people. "They were his kin, the people who meant the world to him and they might hate me," Tauriel continued, aware that her panic was mainly due to her pregnancy. She knew that if the dwarves detested to her, then her child would always be an outcast from Erebor's halls. "Of course they're going to hate me," Tauriel announced, turning to face her friend before moving towards their horses. "I am an elf. I am an elf who couldn't save Kili," Tauriel declared, Legolas' sighing as he followed her and took hold of her hand.

"Yes you are an elf, yes Kili died but you were not to blame for that," he declared, desperately trying to calm her. "You did everything you could have for him and they will understand that. You need to go into Erebor and be confident," he stated, his free hand resting against her cheek as she stared up at him. "You are Tauriel, you were the youngest Captain of the King's Guard, and you are one of the strongest women I have ever known. Prove to them that they have no reason to hate you," he smiled before pressing a kiss to her forehead. "Show them what Kili fell in love with," he added, a shy smile decorating her face before she nodded and mounted her horse, checking that her cloak was in the correct place while Legolas got in his horse. "Shall we go?" he asked, the redhead nodding slowly before she began to follow him in the direction of the Lonely Mountain.

Tauriel/Kili

"I…" Tauriel began before falling silent, staring up at the stone carvings at the gate of Erebor. Like Dale, the dwarves had clearly rebuilt what had been destroyed during the battle and the imposing stone figures now stood proudly by the entrance to the dwarfish Kingdom. Kili had not lied when he told her that Erebor was great. She hadn't even entered yet but she could see how stunning the architecture was and she knew that the inside would not disappoint. Dismounting her horse again, Tauriel slowly moved forwards towards the steps, aware that Legolas was doing the same behind her, to find a dwarf approaching her from inside.

"Tauriel?" a familiar voice asked, Tauriel's smile growing when Bofur emerged from the darkness. "I saw you approaching and knew that it could only be you," he declared, a proud smile decorating her face as she nodded. "Only you could have hair such a fiery red," he continued, Tauriel laughing gently before she looked back to see Legolas standing behind her, clearly confused at the fondness that had emerged between her and the dwarf. She had grown fond of Bofur during their time in Lake Town. He had been the one to cheer the small company in Bard's house with jokes and stories of Kili and Fili as young children, often leading to their embarrassment.

"Legolas," Tauriel said quickly, the blonde moving forward with a cold expression on his face. "Legolas, this is Bofur, he was one on the dwarves who stayed in Lake Town," she explained, biting into her lip to stop herself from laughing when Bofur grandly bowed down, making Legolas stare at him in confusion. For some reason, Tauriel had felt herself relax when she had seen Bofur. He had known about her and Kili after catching them together and he had been rather accepting of their feelings for one another. "Bofur, this is Prince Legolas," she introduced when Bofur stood straight again.

"Yes, I remember him from our time in prison," he stated, glaring across at the Prince before smiling back at the redhead. "Come inside, I will take you to King Thorin. He will want to see you," he smiled, quickly turning around to move into Erebor.

"Be nice," Tauriel whispered across to Legolas as they followed Bofur inside, amazement covering Tauriel's face when she finally got to see the place she had heard so much about. It shone green and she could feel the warmth from the furnaces Kili had mentioned, immediately making her feel uncomfortable in the dark cloak she had wrapped around her body. "Will you please relax?" the redhead asked, looking at Legolas again to see that he was tense and staring at his surroundings.

"How is that I was perfectly relaxed before we arrived and you were nervous and now it is the other way round?" the blonde asked as Tauriel laughed gently and shrugged. She couldn't explain why she had suddenly felt calmer after meeting Bofur outside. "You are friends with that dwarf," Legolas commented, walking beside Tauriel as they followed Bofur up a set of stairs.

"He is nice," Tauriel shrugged. "After I saved Kili in Lake Town, we got to know one another. We had sat together, all of us including Bard's children, and he had told us jokes and stories," she smiled fondly, remembering how relaxed she had felt in the dwarves company that night. Even after he had caught Kili and her together, Bofur had not been disgusted by them and instead had shrugged and smiled at them before breaking into song. "When they were in Rivendell, he started singing at a meal which ended up with the dwarves throwing food at one another," Tauriel smiled, laughing at the horror that had covered Legolas' face at the idea.

"And you find that funny?" he asked. "It is disrespectful," he continued, Tauriel shaking her head before looking to see that Bofur had stopped and was watching them.

"I was just telling Legolas about your time in Rivendell," Tauriel explained, Bofur grinning proudly as he nodded while Legolas forced himself to smile. "He particularly enjoyed the idea of you throwing food at one another," she added.

"We will probably do it again as the week progresses. We have many feasts planned and that is how they normally end," Bofur smirked, laughing at the horrified expression that covered Legolas' face at the idea before he opened a door and let the two elves inside, amazement decorating their faces again. "Prince Legolas and Captain…" Bofur called out.

"Not Captain," Tauriel whispered across to him, noticing the confusion that covered Bofur's face before he nodded slowly.

"Prince Legolas and Tauriel from Mirkwood, King Thorin," Bofur announced, the two elves slowly moving forward to see Thorin sat on his throne in the distance. Tauriel had to admit that he looked like he belonged there. He looked regal and proud, his head nodding in acknowledgement of Bofur's introductions while she and Legolas moved towards him.

"Prince Legolas, Tauriel, welcome to Erebor," Thorin greeted, smiling when the two elves bowed at him. "I am glad you were able to attend," he said quietly, clearly trying to be polite to them even though he didn't want to be. Tauriel knew from those she had talked too that Thorin would not forgive the elves, even if they had helped him keep his kingdom. "We have set up rooms for you," he stated. "Bofur will take you there."

"Thank you King Thorin," Legolas responded, Tauriel standing silent behind him as she continued to watch the dwarf, suddenly nervous when he looked directly at her.

"Were you not once Captain of Thranduil's Guard?" Thorin questioned, the redhead nodding quietly. She hadn't believed that Thorin would address her directly. She was not royalty and she no longer had a title. She was just an elf now who had been randomly sent with Legolas to the coronation. "My kin have mentioned you Tauriel," he commented, the elf remaining silent as he continued to watch her. "You are the elf who saved Kili."

"Yes," Tauriel whispered, desperately trying to control herself. She didn't want to start crying now in front of Thorin. Thorin was the one dwarf she definitely didn't want to cry in front of.

"I want to thank you," he declared, shocking her. Thorin was thanking her even though his nephew had now died because of her? "Bofur," the King suddenly called out, automatically ending the conversation and leading to the other dwarf running towards them from the other end of the room. "Show Prince Legolas and Tauriel to their rooms. I am sure they are tired after their travels and wish to change before the feast tonight," he ordered, Bofur nodding before he smiled up at the two elves.

"If you would follow me," Bofur smiled, the two elves bowing to Thorin again before following him away from the throne and down a long corridor. "Are you not hot in that?" he asked, staring at the cloak that covered Tauriel's figure. Glancing down at the material, Tauriel slowly shook her head, aware that everyone knew she was lying. She was boiling under the cloak and couldn't wait to arrive in her room so that she could remove the material from her body. "These are your rooms," Bofur suddenly stated, indicating to the two doors either side of him. "This one is yours Prince Legolas," he said quietly, moving to open the door before Legolas nodded and stepped inside, leaving Tauriel and Bofur alone. "And this one is yours," he smiled, moving away from Legolas' door and quickly opening the door to the other room, Tauriel stepping inside silently. Again, the skill of the dwarves challenged everything she had been bought up to believe. The room was beautiful and elegant and like Kili had believed, it rivalled the halls of Mirkwood. "Do you like it?" Bofur asked nervously from the doorway, Tauriel quickly turning to look at him again before nodding.

"It's perfect," Tauriel responded before nervously biting into her lip. "Bofur, can I ask something of you?"

"Of course," he quickly replied, shutting the door behind him as she moved to sit down. She didn't know to ask. It was an unusual request. She didn't think many people came to Erebor and asked to do what she was about to ask him. "I can only say no if I don't agree. You don't have to worry about asking me," the dwarf laughed, taking in how nervous the redhead looked.

"Will you take me to see Kili?" she asked quietly, staring down at her lap while he watched her. After a few moments, Tauriel slowly looked up at the dwarf, amazed to see that he briefly smiled at her before nodding gently. She couldn't believe that he was agreeing to take her. It was an odd request, asking for someone to take her to her lover's grave but she desperately wanted to see it. She couldn't come to Erebor and not visit the grave of the dwarf she loved so deeply. She felt like she needed to do it. She needed to see his grave.

"After the feast tonight, I will take you then Tauriel," Bofur agreed before moving towards the door. "I will leave you to get ready," he stated, leaving the room before she had the chance to thank him.

**What do you think? I apologise if you all hate it, I don't know why but I really dislike it. I know Tauriel seems really happy around Bofur but I liked the idea of her feeling more relaxed around a dwarf who knew about her relationship and had been around her and Kili more than Legolas had been. **

**I will try and update again as soon as possible but I start university again on Monday and have so much work to do. **

**Please review, I love hearing from you and you are all incredible. **


	6. Chapter 6

**I have written this chapter a hundred times in a hundred different ways and this became the best option. I don't like it very much but this is what happened and I hope you enjoy and review. I am sorry that it has taken so long to update, it's my first week back at university and things have been a bit chaotic but I will try and be regular with my chapters as I love this story, the characters and hearing from all of you. **

**Thank you again for all your wonderful reviews. The Lord of the Rings and Hobbit fandom is clearly the greatest in the world because you are all so kind! **

"You look beautiful Tauriel," Legolas smiled when the redhead walked out of her room and joined him in the corridor, a small smile decorating her face as she began to blush. She felt uncomfortable, not used to wearing such a formal dress, but she was also relieved to be out of the cloak that she had been forced to wear earlier. The green material that now adorned her figure was flowing, hiding her bump perfectly under the layers of material, and allowing her to enjoy the warmth of the furnaces that filled Erebor's halls. "I think they have been drinking for hours already," Legolas commented, his arm wrapping around hers as they began to walk towards the laughter and singing. "I imagine this feast will be very different to anything we have held in Mirkwood," the blonde continued as the redhead nodded slowly. Of course it would be different to Mirkwood. The dwarves did not fear their King and weren't restricted by the grace and elegance that was expected of the elves. They felt free to misbehave, to sing, to drink and enjoy each other's company. Of course the elves drank at their own parties but she imagined that the dwarves were less refined in their behaviour.

"Bofur has promised to take me to see Kili tonight," Tauriel admitted as they continued walking, shock covering Legolas' face as she sighed. "I have never seen a grave before," the redhead sighed, cuddling into her friend's side as he leant down and gently pressed a kiss into her hair. "I don't know what to expect Legolas. I don't know how I will feel, standing where he is buried. He will be so close and yet he is as far away from me as possible," the elf blurted out, suddenly panicking about what she had agreed to that evening. "Come, we will be late for the feast," Tauriel blurted out, desperately trying to take her mind off Kili again. She didn't want to enter the feast, grieving for the man she loved, when she needed to act as her King's representative. She wanted to enjoy her time with the dwarves and gain a greater understanding of their culture, a culture her child was a part of.

"Tauriel," Legolas whispered when she began to lead him down the corridor. "Tauriel, would you like me to come with you tonight?" he asked quietly, her head shaking as she smiled weakly across at him.

"No mellon," she responded. "Thank you for the offer but I need to do this alone. There are things I need to say that only Kili can hear," she mumbled, realising how ridiculous she sounded. Kili wouldn't hear her, he was dead, but she wanted to tell him. She wanted to tell him that she was carrying his child, that he would live on in their child. She wanted to promise him that she would tell their child of how brave he was and all the stories he had told her about his adventures. "You are a good friend to me Legolas," Tauriel whispered before leaning up and gently pressing a kiss to his cheek. "Sometimes you are too great a friend," she admitted, her arm wrapping around his again when they began to walk closer to the noise. "Remember, they are not our enemy. They are just like us in a way; they love and are brave just like us. Treat them kindly Legolas, forget that they were once our prisoners," Tauriel whispered, laughing when she entered the room to find Bofur standing on a table singing while the others laughed.

"Prince Legolas, Tauriel," Thorin greeted from his seat, the two elves bowing as he nodded at them; both Tauriel and Legolas aware that most of the dwarves were now watching them. "You've arrived in time for the entertainment. Bofur was just going to sing about our adventures," the King stated, Tauriel nodding as she realised that Bofur had actually stopped singing when Thorin had addressed them. "Tauriel, I wish to talk to you," Thorin called out, the redhead glancing across at Legolas in confusion before the blonde nodded and sat down. Walking towards the King as Bofur began to sing and everyone began to talk again, Tauriel bit into her lip nervously as Thorin kept his eyes on her while no expression covered his face. Thorin wanted to talk to her? Why would he want to talk to her? If he was going to talk to anyone, it should have been Legolas. He was the Prince, he had power and influence. Meanwhile, she was an elf with no title or connections. She had no family and would be a named a disgrace when Thranduil learnt of her child. Did Thorin know of his nephew's child? Of the relationship they had had together?

"My Lord," Tauriel said quietly, bowing her head as Thorin stared up at her. She couldn't read him, however hard she tried.

"Let us walk together," Thorin stated, standing quickly as she nodded slowly, trying desperately not to show her panic as she glanced across at Legolas. "You do need to worry for your friend Tauriel; he will not be harmed by my people. Not when many of them respect you as greatly as they do," Thorin explained as they moved out of the room and into an empty corridor, surprise covering her face at his explanation. The dwarves respected her? "My people have learnt of how you saved my nephew," he said quietly, a sad smile decorating her face as she nodded slowly. "You risked your life to save my nephew, you also ignored the orders of a prince to save his life," he continued, the redhead following him as she nodded slowly. "Oin and Bofur have spoken of your skill as healer. Spoken of how great it was to see you save Kili," he smiled as Tauriel remained behind him, her hand gently resting on her abdomen as the King walked ahead of her. "I have also heard things."

"Like what, my Lord?" Tauriel asked quietly, her voice full of worry as Thorin stopped and remained still, not even turning to face her.

"Rumours that there was more between you and my nephew than just friendship," Thorin said quietly, Tauriel's hand quickly moving away from her bump when the dwarf turned to face her. "I know that my nephew cared for you. I heard him talking of you often when we waited to go into battle. He did not know I was there of course, he was often talking to Fili and Ori at night, but I heard him talking of a promise and love and he would say the name Tauriel," he explained quietly as she remained silent. "Your name has haunted me for months now Tauriel."

"How?" the elf questioned.

"The last time I heard my nephew talking happily was when he was mentioning you. It was the night before we went into battle and I'd ordered everyone to rest," he explained, Tauriel watching him as he shook his head. "We hadn't known we were going to fight then. I had forced them to hide behind our walls, I was blinded by rage and the Arkenstone and looking back at it, I am ashamed about how I behaved and the lives that were lost because of my stupid decisions," Thorin admitted, shocking the redhead with what he was saying. "I was walking the corridors, I often did and I could hear him talking," Thorin smiled, staring at the redhead. "He was talking about you and how he was going to find you after the battle. I don't think anyone was even listening to him, I think Fili was asleep and he usually confided in him, but he was talking about you. He said your name and he sounded so happy," the dwarf commented as Tauriel shut her eyes, aware that there were now tears running down her cheeks. "I never meant to make you cry," Thorin stated, his shock at her reaction obvious as he moved towards her. "Sit down Tauriel," Thorin said quickly, indicating to the nearby bench as she nodded and did as he had ordered.

"I know that you probably see what we felt for each other as wrong but it was real and true," Tauriel whispered as the dwarf stared at her. "I threatened my own King to try and save him, to save all of you," Tauriel admitted, looking up to see the shock that decorated his face. "I pointed an arrow at King Thranduil when he tried to leave," she said quietly, smiling weakly when Thorin laughed loudly. "I thought you would be disgusted by how Kili felt for me," Tauriel admitted.

"I was at first," Thorin said quietly as he sat down beside her. "I was disgusted that my nephew, a Prince, had fallen for our enemy but then I realised that you were not so different to us. I will never like your King, he is pompous and I dislike him and his son is too much like him at times but you are different to your kin," he explained. "I saw you talking to Bofur yesterday; I saw how comfortable you were around one another. Bofur started our journey, like us all, hating the elves but yesterday I saw how highly he thought of you."

"Bofur is very kind. When we were in Lake Town, he is the one who kept our spirits up even when the dragon attacked," Tauriel explained as Thorin laughed, not surprised to hear that about Bofur. "I have changed my opinion of dwarves greatly since spending time with your company in Lake Town. I was brought up in Thranduil's court on the idea that dwarves were greedy and selfish but they taught me the opposite. They showed me how selfless dwarves are and how far they would go for those they cared about," the redhead explained.

"They are clearly greater dwarves than I," Thorin muttered as Tauriel shook her head.

"Kili told me many stories about you. Both he and Fili adored you, you were so important to them both. He told me about how you were practically a father to them both after their father died, how you told them stories and taught them how to fight. They both wanted to make you proud Thorin," she explained as Thorin sighed, glancing around the corridor as she watched him. "You are very different to the dwarf we imprisoned so long ago. You would never have talked to an elf then like you talk to me now and you most certainly wouldn't have been so accepting of your nephew's feelings for me."

"I have something I need to show you," Thorin whispered, moving down the corridor before turning to face her. "Follow me, you need to see this," Thorin declared, the redhead nodding as she stood up and began to walk behind him. "There is something we have not told anyone outside of Erebor," he explained, moving up a set of stairs as confusion covered Tauriel's face. Where was he taking her? "I think you need to be trusted with our secret Tauriel," he explained, stopping outside a door as Tauriel stared at him. "I am sorry," he whispered to her before opening the door, confusion covering her face when she stepped into the dark room and stared at what was in front of her.

**If I hated the last chapter, I really really dislike this one. I don't know why but I just don't like it but I couldn't think of anything else and I struggled to write the actual feast when I did attempt that. There will be more feasts in the future though, I promise, if that is something you do want to read about. **

**Anyway what do you think? I know Thorin seems out of character but I think after the battle, if he had survived, and he had lost both nephews he would have realised that his behaviour was wrong. I also think he would have appreciated Tauriel threatening Thranduil. Let me know your opinions. If the chapter is really hated, I will get rid of it and write another one instead. **


	7. Chapter 7

**The response to the last chapter was incredible! I can't believe how many of you wrote reviews, all of which were so lovely to read so I had to get a chapter up as quickly as possible. This chapter is short again but I do plan to update either tonight or tomorrow with a longer chapter but I wanted to respond to your wishes for an update explaining what happened after the last one so here it is! **

Her eyes had to be deceiving her.

She couldn't take her eyes of the figure who was lying in the bed in complete silence, his eyes shut while she remained in the doorway, staring into the darkened room. She knew it was him, even without moving any closer. She would always recognise him, he was a part of her now. The greatest part of her, a part she had believed she had lost months ago. She could sense that Thorin was still standing beside her but he had fallen silent too, allowing her to just watch the sleeping dwarf.

He couldn't possibly be there. He had died. She had watched the life leave his body and had cradled his corpse close to her before Legolas had forced her away. She had done everything she could have thought of to save him but he had died. There was no way he could have survived his injuries. How could he possibly be there? Why hadn't anyone told her that Kili lived? Why was Thorin only telling her now that his nephew had survived? Why were they hiding him from everyone in a dark room when he should have been at the feast, celebrating Thorin's coronation as the heir to Erebor?

"I don't understand," Tauriel whispered, glancing across at the other dwarf, noticing the sadness that decorated his face as he looked at his nephew. "He was dead, I was there. I tried to save him but there was nothing I could do," she mumbled, her head shaking as she rested her hand against the wall, trying desperately to support herself. They had to be tricking her for some cruel reason. She knew what she had seen during the battle. "He died," Tauriel mumbled, watching as Thorin shook his head.

"When Dwalin found him, he had a slight pulse. It was weak, barely detectable, and he was near the brink of death but they managed to save him somehow," Thorin explained, his voice full of sadness as the redhead glanced back at the young dwarf, tears running down her cheeks. "His injuries have only just started to heal but he has been grieving terribly. He is not the same dwarf that he was Tauriel. He has lost so much," he explained as Tauriel kept her focus on Kili as he slept, still terrified to enter the room and find out that this was all a lie. "He is grieving for his brother and for you," Thorin said quietly.

"Me?" Tauriel responded in amazement. "But I am not dead," Tauriel muttered.

"None of us knew what happened to you after the battle and he became convinced that you had died. He could remember you lying on the floor before he was injured and he has become plagued with the idea that you died too. He hates himself for not being able to save you and Fili," Thorin explained, his head shaking as he moved towards the elf. "He will not sleep unless he is medicated and even then he has nightmares. He wakes up screaming Fili's name and yours every night. He will not leave this room, he does not want to leave the mountain," Thorin explained, his voice full of guilt as Tauriel bit into her lip, aware that there were now tears streaming down her face.

"Did someone tell him that I was here? That I didn't die?" Tauriel asked quietly.

"Bofur came straight here after he left you. Kili wouldn't believe him, said that he was lying and we had to get Ori to give him something because he was becoming hysterical," Thorin explained, Tauriel's head shaking as she slowly allowed herself to step into the room. Slowly moving towards him, Tauriel brushed the tears from her face as a small smile began to appear, her eyes remaining solely focused on the young dwarf. He looked so different to the dwarf she remembered in Lake Town. When she had woken up to find that he was still asleep, she had noticed that he looked peaceful while he slept. Now he looked haunted and ill, his face darkened and showing the grief he had been suffering over the last few months.

"Kili," Tauriel whispered as she sat down on the edge fo the bed and grasped his hand in hers, the dwarf remaining perfectly still as she bit into her lip. He was alive. She could feel that his hand was warm in hers and she could see his chest moving as he breathed. He was actually alive! Laughing to herself in amazement, the redhead slowly reached out and brushed her free hand across his cheek, feeling his beard brush against her fingertips. "I can't believe it," Tauriel admitted, turning to look across at Thorin as he remained in the doorway, watching in complete silence. "He's actually breathing," she laughed, the King nodding as she shook her head in amazement. She didn't know what to do. She didn't know whether to laugh or cry or going running back to Legolas to tell him. She wanted to scream at the dwarves for not writing to Mirkwood to tell them that Kili lived but she also wanted to embrace them and thank them for returning him to her, for saving his life when she had failed and abandoned him. "I never thought I'd see him again. I've treasured our last moments together and yet here he is, alive," Tauriel said quietly, her hand squeezing his again as the dwarf remained asleep in her arms. "My Kili," the redhead whispered. "Thank you for bringing me here," Tauriel finally said, looking at Thorin as he glanced down at his feet. "Thank you for letting me see him Thorin."

"I should have written to Thranduil. I should have asked him whether you lived but I didn't. I was too stubborn and I refused to believe that what he had felt for you was as deep as Bofur believed," the King admitted, Tauriel remaining silent as he shook his head in frustration. "Every night he would shout your name, he would call for you in his dreams and that's when I realised that you were his one," he explained, the redhead glancing down at Kili again as her smile continued to grow. She knew that Kili was not well but she couldn't help but be happy that he was alive. From what Thorin was telling her, the happy and free Kili she had loved had been destroyed by the grief he had suffered after the battle, half of it wrongly but she couldn't help but laugh in delight that he was still in her life. "I should leave you and return to the feast," Thorin suddenly announced, moving to turn away.

"Would you sit with me for a while?" Tauriel suddenly found herself asking, surprising herself and the dwarf who turned to face her again. She didn't want Thorin to return to the feast feeling guilty, when it was clear that he already hated himself for his actions. She could see that he blamed himself for the death of Fili and the pain Kili was now suffering. "I do not blame you," Tauriel whispered as the dwarf moved into the room and occupied the seat on the other side of Kili's bed. "I thought you had all fallen. I did not know that even you had survived the battle," Tauriel whispered. "The battle was awful and so many fell, you cannot be blamed for not knowing whether I had lived or not and you did not know me. I was your imprisoner for a few days, you did not know about Kili and I like you do now," Tauriel explained as Thorin remained silent, staring at his nephew as Tauriel brushed her fingers across the sleeping dwarf's cheek again.

"You love him," Thorin observed, noticing that Tauriel did not seemed shocked by his comment as she nodded and smiled across at him.

"I love Kili more than anything," Tauriel stated, her voice determined and clear as the King nodded. "There is only one thing in this world I love as much as I love Kili," Tauriel explained, the dwarf's eyebrows rising as the redhead took Kili's hand and gently pressed it against her abdomen before turning her head to look at the shocked dwarf.

"You are pregnant," Thorin stated in shock, the redhead nodding as she bit into her lip. He was the first person she had told and now she was terrified. What if he reacted badly? What if this was the act that made him forget his acceptance of their relationship? It was one thing to accept that his nephew had feelings for an elf; it was another to deal with the idea that they had created a life together. "Are you well?" he suddenly asked, shocking her with his concern. "Are you both well?" he questioned, staring down at her abdomen as she nodded slowly.

"We are both well," Tauriel responded, unable to remove the smile from her face. She was talking about her baby with someone. She was actually discussing the life that was growing inside of her instead of pretending that it didn't exist. "You are the first person I've told. No one else knows. I've been hiding it," she explained, laughing at the shock that again covered Thorin's face.

"Thranduil does not know?" he asked, her head shaking before Thorin nodded slowly. "You are scared about what he would do if he found out, aren't you?" he observed, the redhead shutting her eyes for a moment as she remembered the fear she had felt when she had been ordered to see her King for the first time after learning of her pregnancy. Hearing footsteps, Tauriel slowly opened her eyes to see Thorin approaching her, his hand held out towards her. Allowing him to take her hand, Tauriel smiled weakly as Thorin stated at her before glancing down at his nephew and smiling. "You are going to be the mother to the next heir of Erebor," he stated, the redhead biting into her lip as she nodded slowly. "You have my protection Tauriel. You and your child will always be safe here," he declared, shocking her before he squeezed her hand and stepped away. "I will leave you and my nephew and return to the feast now," he stated, Tauriel nodding in silence as she tried to process what had just happened. Thorin had given her his protection?

"Thank you," Tauriel whispered when Thorin moved towards the door, the dwarf nodding at her before he disappeared out of the room and shut the door. Moving her free hand back to her abdomen in amazement, Tauriel laughed gently before shaking her head. She and her child had the King of the Mountains protection. "Kili," Tauriel said quietly, leaning down to gently press a kiss to his lips before sighing. "I'm sorry for all the pain you have suffered my love," Tauriel mumbled as she stared down at him. "You have suffered so much for one so young," Tauriel whispered, her head shaking at the unfairness of it all. "You're going to be a father Kili," Tauriel smiled, still trying to process that their child would have a father in their life after all. "Wake up so I can tell you," she whispered before moving to bring a chair closer to the bed and sitting in it, her hand taking his again as she relaxed back. She was going to be there when he woke up and she was going to be there for him every day that followed for the rest of his life.

**So Kili is alive! I know some of you weren't expecting that outcome and I know some of you desperately wanted him to still be alive so here he is, back from the dead. **

**Please review and let me know what you think. Depending on how many responses I get, I will try and update tonight but I do want to give people the chance to read it and review before the next chapter is available. **

**Thank you again to you all, you are the greatest reviewers in the world.**


	8. Chapter 8

**Thank you so much for the amazing response to the last chapter. I received 31 reviews, the largest amount I have ever received for a chapter and they were all so lovely to read. Thank you so much for being the greatest readers in the world and I hope you continue to enjoy the story because there is a bumpy ride ahead of Tauriel and Kili. **

**I was going to update last night and I apologise that I didn't but it took me a while to write this chapter and get it right and also my housemates persuaded me to watch Jurassic Park with them ridiculously late last night. However, here's the chapter and it's longer than the last couple so I hope that makes up for the fact that I didn't update when I said I would. **

**I might be able to update again tomorrow but my housemates and I are going out in the afternoon and I actually have to start behaving myself when it comes to university work seeing that I've spent most of today working on this chapter. My priorities are never what they're supposed to be… **

**Anyway, enjoy… **

"Tauriel."

The small voice was what snapped her out of her doze, making her sit up in the chair as she glanced across to see the dwarf staring at her from where he lay. She was still trying to process that he was really here. That Kili was still alive and lying there awake, in the same room of her. Smiling weakly, the elf slowly brought her chair closer to the bed while Kili remained still, his eyes completely focused on her.

"You cannot be here," Kili mumbled sadly, tears appearing in Tauriel's eyes as she watched the disappointment cover his face. "You're dead," he continued, his head shaking before he closed his eyes for a moment before looking at her again. "You are dead Tauriel, just like Fili," he insisted, the elf watching as tears began to run down his cheeks. "You are just a trick, nothing more than my imagination making me crazy," Kili mumbled, turning onto his side so that he was facing away from her. "You are gone, just like my brother," he whispered, the redhead biting into her lip as she stood up and moved to the other side of the room. He sounded so young and lost. "I wish you were here Tauriel," the dwarf mumbled, her eyes shutting briefly before she poured water from a jug into a small bowl and grabbed the towel that rested beside it. "I feel so alone now," Kili whispered, Tauriel moving towards him before stopping when she heard sobs from the bed. Glancing across at him, the elf bit into her lip when she saw that Kili had buried his face into his pillow, clearly to mask that he was crying. She hated that he felt alone, that he didn't believe that she was here with him.

"Kili," Tauriel whispered, not surprised when he didn't respond. Approaching the bed, Tauriel rested the towel and bowl on his bedside table before she rested her hand on his shoulder. "Kili," Tauriel repeated, not surprised by how damp his tunic was. She had seen that he was sweating when he had started to toss and turn in the bed and she had tried to think of someway to help him. "Kili," Tauriel said again, aware that had now fallen silent. "My love," the redhead whispered, her fingers gently brushing through his hair before he slowly turned and looked up. She could tell that he still didn't believe that she was real, even though he was now staring up at her. "Why don't we make you more comfortable?" she suggested, her hand gently resting on his arm before he slowly sat up, his eyes staring at her as she moved her hands to his tunic and slowly removed it from his body. "Oh Kili," she whispered, staring down at his torso. He had once been muscular and she had felt safe but now he was almost a skeleton. She could see his ribs now and was shocked by the dramatic weight loss. It terrified her how much he had suffered because of the grief he was feeling. He had lost his brother and had believed he had lost her and now he was almost a ghost. "Your Uncle has been a very gracious host," Tauriel said quietly, desperately trying to keep the conversation light as she slowly wiped the damp towel across his torso, washing the sweat away. She could still feel his eyes on her as she carried out the actions.

"You cannot be real then. My Uncle hates the elves," Kili responded, Tauriel laughing gently as she shook her head and glanced down at the bandages that were wrapped around his lower abdomen. Thorin had mentioned that he was only just recovering from his injuries but she hadn't expected to see bandages. "I wish you were real," the dwarf whispered, glancing down as she finished washing his chest with the damp towel before placing it in the bowl and moving away from the bed to find another tunic for him. "I miss you Tauriel," he mumbled again, relaxing back against the pillows before the redhead turned and smiled weakly. The dwarf had his eyes shut, his bare chest on show as he fell silent again. Approaching the bed, Tauriel slowly sat on the edge before she reached across and grasped his hand in hers. She wanted to keep him close to her, wanted him to feel safe and happy again like he had been before the battle. She wanted to see the happiness that had once filled his eyes again. She wanted him to be healthy, not the skeleton he currently was. She wanted so much but most of all, she wanted him to know that she wasn't a ghost, that she was real.

"Kili," Tauriel whispered as he shook his head. "Kili I'm real," Tauriel mumbled, squeezing his hand again while he kept his eyes firmly shut, refusing to even look at her. "I'm not dead Kili, I am here with you. I didn't die Kili, you saved my life," Tauriel continued, bringing his hand to her lips before she gently pressed a kiss to his knuckles.

"You are dead," Kili stated, his voice desperately trying to be strong as she stared at him, aware that he sounded like he was going to cry. "I want this to stop! I want you to stop haunting me," he hissed, forcing his hand from hers as she bit into her lip.

"Please believe me," the redhead begged. "I have so much that I want to tell you, so much that I need you to know Kili," she whispered, slowly edging closer to him, suddenly realising how terrified she was that he would push her away again. She wanted to comfort him but it seemed that he didn't even want her to touch him. "Please Kili," she mumbled, her voice almost silent as she tried to stop herself from crying. How could see tell him about their baby when he didn't believe her to be real? "One day you will begin to trust yourself again," she explained, desperately trying to be strong. It was her turn to be the strong one now. "And I will not leave you again. I am not going to leave you Kili," Tauriel added before she began to move away, confusion covering her face when Kili suddenly grabbed hold of her hand, not allowing her to step any further away. "Kili," Tauriel whispered, glancing back at him as he opened his eyes and stared up at her.

"Why do you always seem so real?" he asked quietly, her heart breaking at how lost he sounded.

Tauriel & Kili

"Tauriel," a voice asked from the doorway, a small yawn leaving her lips as she turned to glance across at the doorway from her chair; the wooden door opening as Thorin stepped inside, two dwarves following closely behind him. "Oin wishes to see to Kili's wounds," he explained, indicating to the blonde dwarf that Tauriel recognised, her head nodding slowly before he approached the bed. Kili was sleeping again, or at least she believed him to be. It had been hours since had talked; she had sat up and listened to the dwarf's sing merrily deep within in their halls before it had fallen completely silent. Sitting up straight as Oin moved towards the dwarf prince, Tauriel watched as he slowly moved the blanket away from Kili's body, his eyebrows rising at Kili's bare chest.

"He had a nightmare," she provided as an explanation, the dwarf nodding as he slowly began to undo Kili's bandages, panic covering Tauriel's face when she heard him groan in pain. "Kili," she whispered, her hand taking his as Oin smiled weakly across at her before removing the bandages away. "Oh Kili," she whispered, squeezing his hand as she stared at the scar that now decorated his lower abdomen. It was inflamed and clearly painful and she couldn't believe how great an expanse it covered. She had believed Kili had been stabbed but she could see that the knife that had stabbed him had torn through his stomach. Watching as Oin took a pot out of his bag, Tauriel bit into her lip as the blonde slowly rubbed the paste across the scar, Kili wincing as she continued to cling onto his hand. "Kili," Tauriel whispered, aware that he was awake, although for some reason he was still pretending to be asleep. "Kili," she mumbled again, moving to sit on the edge of the bed before she pressed her free hand against his chest. "Kili, look at me," Tauriel ordered, shocking the occupants of the room at her firmness before Kili's eyes slowly opened and stared up at her. "Look at me," she repeated; keeping her hand against his cheek as they stared at one another while Oin continued to work on his injury. "Tell me about the fire moon," Tauriel whispered when Kili winced in pain again.

"I can't," Kili groaned weakly, her head shaking as she forced herself to smile, her hand squeezing his as he continued to watch her.

"You were escorting some merchants from Ered Luin," Tauriel began, the smile disappearing from her face when Kili shut his eyes again. "You're not looking at me," she warned, the dwarf groaning as she continued to stare at him.

"You're not real," Kili whispered.

"Look at me," Tauriel ordered, Kili refusing as she stared at him. "Kili, look at me," Tauriel repeated, desperately trying to remain strong as his eyes slowly opened again. "I don't care whether you think I'm real or not, you're going to tell me about the fire moon Kili," she declared before bringing Kili's hand to her lips and gently pressing a kiss to his knuckles, briefly glancing back to see that Oin was still working on his abdomen. "I can't remember what they were trading," Tauriel whispered to him.

"Silverwork for furs," Kili mumbled, the redhead smiling as she nodded slowly. "It was near Dunland, it rose over the pass," he continued, her hand squeezing his whenever he looked like he was in pain. "It was red and gold and it filled the sky, lighting our path," Kili said quietly, a small smile covering his face at the memory as Tauriel nodded, tears filling her eyes at the memory. He had once told her the story with such life and excitement, describing it in so much detail and she had been fascinated by every word. She still was fascinated by every word but now she clung onto each mumbled sentence, reminding herself that the previous day she had believed the dwarf to be dead. "I wanted to show you."

"It is done," Oin said quietly behind her, the redhead watching as Kili shut his eyes again. "Kili, I could give you something for the pain," Oin whispered, Tauriel's head shaking as she turned to face him.

"Please don't give him anything else," Tauriel begged, not surprised by the shocked expressions that covered the dwarves faces at her request. "I know that you are trying to ease his pain but I just want to see whether he is able to understand better without whatever you have been giving him," she explained, aware that Thorin was staring at her like she was insane. "Just for a couple of days," the redhead stated. "If he is in too much pain or he doesn't improve, then we can start it again but I just want to see," she explained, Thorin moving towards her while Oin watched him, clearly waiting for his King's opinion.

"He will be in pain," Oin stated, Tauriel's eyes shutting briefly as she nodded slowly, fully aware that her request was going to cause Kili pain.

"Oin, Balin, wait outside," Thorin ordered, the two dwarves nodding before they disappeared silently out of the room and shut the door behind them. "It will be unnecessary pain, pain we can keep away with what we have been giving him," Thorin explained, watching his nephew as Tauriel nodded.

"He does not believe that I am real," Tauriel whispered, surprised when Thorin's hand rested on her shoulder. "I just want to see whether the medication has been affecting him. If it hasn't, if I am wrong, I promise I will not interfere with his care again. I know little about your medicine but I just want to know," she begged, glancing up at the dark haired dwarf as he sighed. "I will stay with him, I will take care of him, I will do everything I have too," she stated.

"Tauriel, you would not have left him even if I did refuse you," he laughed before nodding slowly. "I will not allow anything to be given to Kili," he stated, smiling broadly at the amazement that covered her face when she processed what he had said. "If he is in too much pain though," he began.

"I swear I will find Oin and tell him to give Kili whatever he needs," Tauriel immediately responded, the dwarf nodding before he smiled and sat down in the nearby chair. "Thank you," Tauriel said quietly as she stared at Kili, this time aware that he was sleeping.

"Tauriel, I will sit with Kili while you go and change," Thorin stated, glancing at the dress that the elf was still wearing. "I will have someone bring your things to a closer room later today, when they have recovered from the feast last night," he added, Tauriel biting into her lip as she stared down at Kili. What if she left and something happened to him? What if he woke up or was in severe pain? What if waking up to find her not there reinforced his idea that she wasn't real? "He is asleep Tauriel and you cannot spend forever sat here wearing that. Go and change, check that your Prince is not suffering too much from last night," he smirked, the redhead nodding slowly before she leant down and gently pressed a kiss to Kili's forehead.

"I will come back soon my love," Tauriel whispered to him before standing and smiling weakly at the dwarf. He looked so small in the large bed, the pillows and blanket making his thin body seem even smaller. "Thank you," Tauriel said quietly to Thorin, who quickly nodded in response, before walking out of the room. Remembering the route that Thorin had taken her the previous evening, Tauriel smiled to herself when she found her room again before stepping inside and breathing out. She was desperate to get out of her dress and find something more comfortable to wear before she returned to Kili. She also wanted to see Legolas and tell him everything and find out how the feast had gone, especially since she had unintentionally abandoned him for the entire evening. Removing the dress from her body, Tauriel smiled as the material fell to the floor before she moved towards the rest of her clothes and pulled on her usual style of clothing, immediately relaxing at the feel of the material against her skin. She was aware that her bump was more prominent in the tunic but she could cover it until she reached Kili's room and then she could relax again. Moving out of the room again as she pulled her cloak on again, Tauriel quietly approached the adjoining room before knocking gently against the wood and opening it slowly, her smile growing as she stared at the blankets and the lump hidden underneath them. "Legolas," Tauriel whispered, biting into her lip when he groaned from the bed, the redhead approaching him before she sat in the space beside his body and pulled the blanket away; unable to stop herself from laughing when she saw him.

"Go away," Legolas moaned, keeping his eyes shut as his hand searched around for the blanket. "I'm sleeping," he stated, his face remaining buried in his pillow as Tauriel continued to laugh. Lying down beside him, Tauriel watched as Legolas turned his head and groaned at her. "I am sure they tried to kill me last night," he declared, Tauriel shaking her head as he nodded in response. "I won at least."

"Won what?" Tauriel asked.

"The drinking competition," Legolas smirked, groaning when Tauriel hit his arm. "They challenged me, I accepted, I won," he stated before shutting his eyes again, Tauriel's head shaking at him before she sighed and watched him for a moment. She should have known that something would happen in her absence. She knew that the dwarves would try and do something to show that they were better than the elves and Legolas would of course accept to show that he was the greatest. "You abandoned me Tauriel, I had to do something fun," he added, opening his eyes to stare across at her while she continued to watch him. "Where did you go anyway abandoner?" he asked quietly, staring at her as she smiled.

"Kili's alive," Tauriel admitted, immediately noticing the worry that covered Legolas' face at her statement. "I haven't gone mad Legolas, I promise. I know it must seem like I have gone crazy but I haven't. I have been sat with him all night. I've been holding his hand, watching him breathe, watching him live," she quickly explained, the blonde continuing to watch her in silence before she moved closer and cuddled into his side, his arms wrapping around her as he sighed. "Don't breathe one me," Tauriel squealed in disgust when the smell of alcohol hit her. "You smell absolutely horrid," Tauriel muttered, laughing when Legolas moved closer to her and breathed out, the redhead groaning before she moved away from him. "You are disgusting, Legolas."

"I had a couple of drinks, don't be dramatic," he muttered, her head shaking as she glanced down at him. "Kili's alive?" he asked quietly, still lying perfectly still as Tauriel nodded, unable to remove the smile from her face.

"He is still recovering from his injury but he's alive. He's actually alive," Tauriel beamed. "Thorin is moving me into a room closer to Kili's," she explained, not surprised when Legolas raised his eyebrows in surprise. "He has been kind to me. He knows about Kili and I. He's accepted me, he's even listened to me," the redhead explained, not surprised by the confused look that continued to cover her friends' face. Of course he would be shocked that Thorin had been accepting of her relationship.

"Thorin Oakenshield is clearly a greater dwarf than we first believed," Legolas commented, Tauriel's smile continuing to grow as she nodded. Thorin had shocked her with his behaviour. He had been accepting and kind to her, caring about her and the child she was carrying. "Kili must have been happy to see you after all this time."

"He thinks I'm not real. He thinks I'm a hallucination," the redhead mumbled sadly, shaking her head when Legolas sat up and groaned in pain before wrapping an arm around her shoulders and pulling her close. "But he's alive. Kili is alive," she mumbled again, desperately trying to stay happy before she looked up at her friend. "I'm sorry that I abandoned you last night but you seemed to have been alright on your own," she explained before leaning up and gently pressing a kiss to his cheek. "I think you secretly had fun," Tauriel whispered, smirking at the disgust that immediately covered Legolas' face at the suggestion. "Legolas," Tauriel mumbled, the blonde elf looking at her as the smile disappeared from her face. "Kili will be alright, won't he?" she asked quietly.

"He has you to support him now, of course he will be fine," Legolas smiled before pressing a kiss into her hair. "Now go away, I want to sleep more," he joked, pushing her shoulder slightly as she rolled her eyes and moved off the bed. "Tauriel," he called out when she moved towards the door, the elf turning as he looked at her from underneath the pile of blankets he had now pulled around his body. "Please don't tell my father about this," he mumbled, a laugh leaving her lips as she stared at him.

"I might just keep this piece of information for an occasion where it's really needed," Tauriel smirked before walking out, laughing when she heard a pillow hit the closing door.

**I don't know why I decided to end it hear but otherwise I would have just kept on writing and never stopped. **

**Let me know what you think. Anything you want to see in future chapters, let me know and I will try to put it in. I am planning on having Dis appear in the future, just trying to work out when best to have her enter the story. **


	9. Chapter 9

**A short chapter for this morning seeing that I've been awake since five o'clock because of the weather and I wanted to write something early so I would actually do work today. It is a tiny chapter in comparison and you will probably all hate me at the end of it but I promise that there will be either an update this evening or early tomorrow and it will be long! **

**Thank you again for the amazing reviews! I can't believe how many I've received. I've never had a response to a story like I have received for this one. You are all amazing and so supportive. Thank you so much for being the greatest readers and I hope you continue to enjoy the story and don't hate me when you reach the end of this chapter! **

**See you at the end! **

Wrapping her arms around her torso as she stood in the darkened room, Tauriel sighed as she stared at the sleeping dwarf who was beginning to toss and turn in his sleep, small moans leaving his lips as he buried his face into the pillow and groaned. He had been asleep for most of the day since Thorin's visit that morning and she was finding it impossible to rest. She couldn't even shut her eyes in fear that she would wake up and find that this had all been a dream or wake up to find that something had happened to Kili and she had lost him all over again. Approaching the bed quietly, the redhead slowly sat down beside him before she rested her hand on his shoulder, her eyes shutting when she finally heard what he was beginning to mutter into the pillow.

"Fili," the dwarf mumbled, her hand slowly moving up and down his arm as he groaned again and turned, this time to face her. She could see the pain etched into his face while his eyes remained firmly shut and his head shook. "No Fili," Kili almost began to scream, shocking the elf when he began to repeat his brother's name over and over again with each mention becoming louder and louder and full of more pain. "Fili," Kili shouted, panic covering Tauriel's face when he sat up and stared across the room before burying his face into his hands and panting.

"Kili," Tauriel whispered, moving her body so she was sat behind him before she gently moved her hands to his shoulders. "You are safe, you are safe now," she mumbled, her hands massaging his shoulders in a desperate attempt to calm him. He felt so tense underneath her hands and she could hear the small sobs that he was beginning to produce, her eyes shutting as she tried to remain calm. This was not the time for her to cry. She needed to be the strong one because Kili needed her and her baby needed her and she couldn't let herself be weak at the moment. "Kili," Tauriel whispered, her eyes shutting as his sobs got louder. "Come back to me Kili," the redhead said quietly, watching in amazement as Kili shook his head and climbed out of the bed. She hadn't seen him get out of the bed before but she had known from Thorin that he was reasonably mobile; although the movement did cause him pain. Thorin had told her that he had often found Kili sat on the other side of the room when he visited and that the young dwarf occasionally paced up and down when he was particularly stressed. Sitting quietly, Tauriel watched as Kili began to move up and down the room, his fingers running through his hair as he shook his head.

"You're not real, you're not real," he mumbled to himself, almost chanting the words to himself as she bit into her lip; shocked when he finally looked across at her. "You are dead, just like my brother," he stated firmly before turning away and wrapping his arms around his torso. Climbing off his bed, Tauriel slowly moved towards the dwarf before kneeling in front of him and taking his hands, her lips gently kissing his knuckles as he stared at her in tears. "I wish I had died," Kili sobbed, Tauriel unable to repress the tears as she shook her head. He couldn't want that! He couldn't wish that, not now! Not when she had just got him back. "I should be dead," he continued, words escaping the redhead as she watched him, taking in the hatred that decorated his face. "I should have been killed. I am not worthy to live," he declared, the elf remaining silent as the tears continued to stream down both their faces. "I am nothing! Fili was the heir, you were the starlight and I am nothing and yet I'm the one that lived," he shouted at her, panic covering her face when she realised that Kili's hands had now wrapped around hers and were tightly grasping them.

"Kili, you're hurting me," she mumbled, the dwarf's head shaking as she glanced down at their hands. "Kili, please let go," she begged.

"Why won't you leave me alone? Why can't you just go away and leave me?" Kili screamed at her, her fear growing as he tightened his hold of her hands again, a small whimper leaving her lips as she stared up at him. She had put herself in a weak position by kneeling in front of him, as she was now the same height as him, and she was unable to pull her hands from his. He was stronger than he originally seemed and she knew she couldn't fight him, not with their baby growing inside of her and without fear of hurting him even further. "I don't want to ever see you again. I would rather be alone than spend the rest of my life staring at you," he shouted, his voice getting louder as his anger grew. "You are nothing now. You are just my mind playing tricks on me, you are dead," he declared, tears streaming down her face as she tried to pull her hands away, a small gasp leaving her lips when Kili let go of one of her hands and instead grabbed her hair, pulling her closer to his face. "I hate you, I hate seeing you. I wish you were just dead, I wish I never had to look at you again," the dark haired dwarf hissed at her, a small scream leaving Tauriel's lips when he forcefully pushed her back and her body smashed against the stone floor; panic covering her face at the sudden twinge she felt in her abdomen.

**And let the hate begin… **

**I don't know why I woke up and was in an angsty mood but this was the result. Please review and let me know what you think and whether I should be hiding until the next update. I promise I will do my best to update again tonight but I want to give as many of you the chance to read it before I upload the next chapter and ruin the cliff hanger. **

**I should have probably mentioned earlier that I love cliff hangers and am rather evil as they do feature a lot in my stories…**


	10. Chapter 10

**So once again, a huge thank you for the extraordinary response to the last chapter! Your reviews were all so lovely to read, I love how involved you have all become in the story and I am still amazed by how many of you are reading this and enjoying it- I never would have believed how many of you would have liked it when I started writing it. **

**I'm not sure when I'll next be able to update because I have actually got to do some uni work- I have three essays and a presentation in in the next couple of weeks and this has completely distracted me! Once again, my priorities are all over the place. Hopefully, I might be able to write a chapter tomorrow but if not there will be one on Tuesday, I promise! **

**Anyway, enjoy the chapter and please review! **

"No, no, no, no," Tauriel panicked as she moved her hands to her abdomen, not noticing as two dwarves ran into the room and pulled Kili away from her, the elf not even hearing his shouts as she continued to stare down at her bump. She knew that Kili hadn't meant to hurt her, of course she knew that but she was terrified, terrified for her baby. "Please, please don't be hurt. Please don't be hurt," Tauriel mumbled, feeling her body jump when someone touched her shoulder. Glancing up, Tauriel bit into her lip as she stared at Thorin, noticing the panic that was covering his face when he knelt down beside her and focused on her. "He didn't mean too," Tauriel mumbled, looking back to see someone holding Kili back as he continued to beg to die, completely oblivious to what he had done. "He would never hurt me, he was just scared," the redhead continued, falling silent when Thorin nodded slowly. "He didn't know I was real, he didn't know he could hurt me. He was upset, he…" Tauriel continued the panic obvious in her voice as Thorin nodded slowly.

"I know he didn't mean to hurt you, of course he didn't," Thorin interrupted, her eyes shutting for a moment before Thorin moved closer to her. "I am going to get Oin to come and check you and the baby," he said quietly, the elf's eyes opening to stare at him before she nodded slowly, her hand running against her abdomen slowly. What if her baby was hurt? "Your first priority must be your child now," he stated before standing and holding a hand out in front of her, the redhead slowly taking it before she got off the floor and groaned. Her body hurt from the impact of hitting the stone floor and she could still feel occasional twinges in her abdomen. "Kili is a grown dwarf. He is sick, yes, but your child is dependent on you, only you can keep that child safe. Kili has a whole mountain of people who wish to help him recover," he stated firmly, leading her out of the room before taking her to the small room that her possessions had been placed in. "Lie down, I will go and fetch Oin," Thorin ordered, Tauriel smiling weakly before she lay down on her bed and rested her hands on her abdomen. What if her baby was really hurt because she had been too scared to fight Kili? Would someone tell Kili when he was better what he had done? She didn't want Kili to have to deal with the guilt of an action he had done while unwell as well as trying to cope with the grief he was feeling for his brother. "Would you like me to get the Prince?" Thorin asked when he reached the door.

"No, please don't tell him," Tauriel whispered, the dwarf nodding before he walked out. Legolas couldn't find out about what happened. She didn't want him to find out about the baby like that and she didn't want him to believe that Kili was violent towards her. Legolas would always remember that, even when Kili had returned to his usual self and was lovely and kind, Legolas would always remember that he had injured her. "I'm sorry," Tauriel sobbed once she was alone, staring down at her bump as she ran her fingers across it slowly. "I promise, he didn't mean to hurt you," Tauriel whispered, brushing the tears away as she continued to focus on her abdomen. "He will love you when he finds out. He's just unwell and scared, he would never have hurt us if he was well," Tauriel mumbled. She was not going to blame Kili for what had happened. He was sick and he had been confused. How could he hurt someone who wasn't real? "Just stay strong for me, stay strong for us," she whispered, falling silent when the door creaked open and the blonde dwarf entered the room.

"I told Thorin to wait outside," he stated, Tauriel nodding quietly as she bit into her lip. "Thorin said that you were injured."

"He didn't mean too," Tauriel blurted out.

"I don't care about that, whether he meant too or not has nothing to do with this. You are my patient, now tell me where you are in pain so I can care for you," he declared, Tauriel nodding as she tried her best to remain calm.

"Thorin didn't tell you," Tauriel whispered, confusion covering Oin's face as she moved her hands to her abdomen again; making her bump clearer through the pressed material. "I'm pregnant," the redhead said nervously. Telling Thorin was one thing but telling someone who wasn't related to their child was another matter. "I hit the floor and I felt something," she explained, the blonde dwarf nodding as he stared down at her abdomen in shock.

"Is it Kili's?" he asked quietly.

"Yes," she whispered, the dwarf nodding before he glanced at her. "Please tell me the baby is safe," she begged, amazed when Oin smiled weakly at her before lifting her tunic up to examine her abdomen. Keeping her eyes shut as the dwarf examined her, Tauriel felt the panic growing inside her. What if her baby was hurt? What if she lost the baby? Breathing out as she tried not to cry at the idea of not having her baby anymore, Tauriel tried desperately to remain calm. She wanted this baby more than anything in the world. She wanted to be a mother. She wanted to see what their child would like, how much their child would take after her and how much they would take after Kili. She wanted to have a family. She wanted to teach everything she knew to her child, she wanted to hear Kili telling bedtime stories to their baby at night.

"Your baby is fine," Oin stated, her eyes opening to stare at him in disbelief. "You, however, need to start taking better care of yourself because you might not be so lucky if you carry on like this," he declared, the redhead nodding slowly as he shook his head at her. "You need to eat properly, sleep and relax. You can't just sit up with Kili every hour of the day and wait for him to finally get better, you have a child that is dependent on you," he ordered, the redhead nodding slowly as she began to move off the bed. "Where do you think you're going?" he quickly asked.

"To see Kili," she said quietly, stopping when the dwarf shook his head at her.

"You are going to rest, even if I have to find someone to stand by the bed to stop you from going anywhere," he declared, the redhead groaning before she rested back against the pillows and sighed. "You were lucky, if you had hit the floor any harder, we may have had a different result," he stated, Tauriel's eyes shutting as she nodded slowly, aware that her baby's life had been at risk. Hearing the door shut, Tauriel sighed as she turned onto her side and buried her face into the pillow, trying to hide the sound of her sobs as she began to cry.

Kili & Tauriel

"Where is she?"

The sound of Legolas' voice shouting outside her door immediately woke her, confusion decorating her face as she turned to look at it. She could tell that Legolas was angry and that, of course, meant that he'd somehow found out about what had happened earlier. Sitting up, Tauriel bit into her lip when the door suddenly opened and the blonde elf stormed in, Thorin quickly following him with anger painted across his face.

"Legolas," Tauriel moaned at him, frustrated with her friend for not only storming in but for clearly angering the dwarf. "I am sorry Thorin," Tauriel said quietly, glancing at the dark haired King who was stood glaring up at the blonde. "Could we be alone for a moment?" she asked, embarrassment covering her face as the dwarf looked across at her before nodding slowly and glaring up at the elf.

"I will be outside," he stated, clearly to her as he continued to glare up at Legolas before leaving the room.

"What are you doing?" Tauriel hissed at Legolas, the Prince quickly moving to sit beside her as she shook her head at him. "This is not your kingdom, you cannot just walk around shouting at people to get your own way," the redhead declared, not surprised when Legolas reached out and rested his hand on her cheek, turning her head slightly almost like he was looking for some sign of injury. "What are you doing?" Tauriel muttered, trying desperately to work out how much he knew.

"I heard some of the dwarves talking," he said quietly, the anger disappearing from his voice to be replaced with concern. "They said you were hurt, they said that someone had to visit you," he continued, her eyes shutting as she leant forward and felt Legolas' arms wrap around her, pulling her close as she buried her face into his chest. "Are you hurt mellon? What happened?" he asked quietly, gently pressing a kiss into her red hair as she began to relax.

"I'm not hurt Legolas," Tauriel whispered, glancing up at him slowly as he brushed his hand against her cheek again. "I just hit the floor hard when I was knocked but I am alright now. It was more the shock than anything else," she explained, his eyebrows rising in confusion.

"Knocked? How were you knocked?" he asked quietly.

"Kili was confused, he pushed me and I hit the floor," she admitted, falling silent when the blonde stood up and glared across at the door.

"Where is he?" Legolas asked quietly, the anger growing in his voice again as she shook her head, regretting telling him now. She should have known that he would react badly! He wasn't going to accept that Kili hadn't meant to hurt her. "I'm going to kill him," Legolas hissed, her head shaking as she reached across and grabbed his hand.

"He didn't mean to hurt me, he isn't well," Tauriel panicked, the blonde shaking his head as he pulled his hand from hers and began to pace. "Legolas, he didn't mean to hurt me. He loves me, he wouldn't ever try to hurt me in his right mind," she explained, aware that if she didn't calm him down the blonde would probably try and find Kili. "Mellon, listen to me," she begged.

"We're going home today," he finally stated, her head shaking as she stared at him from the bed. "When my father learns that you were hurt by one of them," he began, falling silent when she ran over to him and grabbed his hands before shaking her head.

"I am not leaving," Tauriel said firmly.

"That dwarf hurt you, he doesn't even believe that you are real," Legolas argued. "We are returning tonight," he declared sternly, her hands clutching onto his as he continued to stare at her.

"Then you are leaving without me," Tauriel responded. She was not leaving Erebor. "My life is here now Legolas," she declared, staring up at her friend as he shook his head at her.

"Kili doesn't even believe that you are real. He may never recover Tauriel, he may be like this for the rest of his life," Legolas stated, tears appearing in her eyes as she nodded slowly. She knew that there was a chance Kili might not ever recover, that he may forever be lost to his grief. "You are immortal; you cannot stay here, in the darkness of a mountain, away from your kin, waiting for the slight chance that he might recover."

"But where you see darkness, I see light Legolas," Tauriel responded, one of her hands moving to his cheek as he continued to stare at her. "I stay because I have hope mellon, I have not given up on Kili and I will never give up on him. I gave up on him once before, I believed him to be dead, but he fought and he still lives and I will never give up on his strength again Legolas," she declared before leaning up and gently pressing a kiss to his cheek. "If you wish to return tonight then leave but I have to stay," she whispered, smiling weakly as he shook his head. "I have a future here."

"What future?" Legolas asked. "A dwarf who does not believe that you are here, a mountain full of dwarves who will most likely resent you," he began, falling silent when she moved their joined hands and pressed them to her abdomen.

"A child," Tauriel smiled, watching as Legolas glanced down to where their hands were resting. "My future will forever be connected to the dwarves, whether Kili recovers or not, because I am carrying the next heir to the line of Durin," she explained, taking in the shock and amazement that decorated the elf's face as he continued to stare at her abdomen.

"How long?" he asked quietly, his focus remaining solely on their hands as she smiled.

"Five months," she responded quietly, the blonde glancing up at her before laughing gently.

"The cloak," he muttered, her head nodding as he laughed again. "I should have known, you looked ridiculous with it on but I never would have thought of this," he stated, pointing at her stomach with his free hand as she nodded. "The child wasn't hurt when you were fell?" he asked quietly, Tauriel amazed how his anger had disappeared to be immediately replaced with concern. She loved Legolas like a brother but she knew that he disliked the dwarves and she had been scared to tell him that she was carrying a dwarf's child, purely for his hatred of the race. "You're pregnant," he whispered, her head nodding slowly when he finally looked up at her, a small laugh leaving her lips when he wrapped his arms around her and pulled her close. "Does my father know?" Legolas suddenly asked.

"Of course not," Tauriel responded, her head shaking as she stared at him. "Please don't tell him. I know I have lied to you and not been honest but please don't tell him about the baby," she begged, the blonde's hand moving to her cheek as she stared at him. "He will not accept this. You know, in your heart, that your father will never accept my child," she declared, Legolas' eyes shutting as he nodded slowly. "One day I will tell him, I promise."

"Will the dwarves ever accept you though?" he asked quietly, opening his eyes again as Tauriel shrugged.

"I don't know. Thorin has given me his protection and has been very kind to me since I told him. He is different to how I thought he would be. He loves his nephew and has accepted my feelings for him, he cares about the baby too," Tauriel smiled, her fingers lacing with Legolas' as she bit into her lip. "The other dwarves, I don't know but I have to try. I have some friends here and in time, I might make some more," she whispered, squeezing his hand before smiling. "But most of all, Kili is here mellon and I will not let my child grow up without a father," she explained, smiling when he gently pressed a kiss to her forehead. "Please don't be angry with Kili for what happened, he would never have done it if he was himself," she whispered before sighing. "Was Thorin outside the door when you arrived?" Tauriel asked, changing the conversation quickly.

"Yes, he was sat there," the blonde admitted as Tauriel sighed and moved back to the bed. "It's odd behaviour for someone who is being crowned King at the end of this week," he continued, the redhead smiling as she relaxed back against the pillows and patted the space beside her, the blonde elf quickly moving to sit there. "You would think he would busy."

"He is guarding me," Tauriel smiled, Legolas' eyebrows rising as she laughed. "I am not a prisoner," she quickly added. "I have been ordered to rest, for the baby, and Oin told me that he would make someone stand by the bed to stop me from visiting Kili. They clearly decided to guard the door instead," she explained, Legolas laughing gently as she smiled.

"These dwarves already know you well then Tauriel. They clearly know that you are as stubborn as they come," he responded, the redhead laughing gently as she brushed her hand across her abdomen. "How did I not see this?" he asked quietly, glancing down at the clear bump as Tauriel shrugged.

"I don't know," Tauriel sighed. "I haven't been as good at hiding it recently," she whispered before shrugging. "I wanted to tell you sooner Legolas but I was scared, I'm sorry," Tauriel admitted, the elf's eyebrows rising as she yawned.

"Lie down," Legolas whispered, the redhead doing as she was told before he gently pulled the blanket around her. "What were you scared of?" he asked quietly, her hand taking his again as she watched her fingers lace with him. What had she been scared of, honestly? Legolas was her closest friend, her brother in everything but blood!

"That you would hate me, that you would hate my child, that you would tell your father," Tauriel listed quietly, her eyes shutting as she bit into her lip, ashamed at how little she had trusted her friend.

"I could never hate you mellon and this baby is a part of you," he whispered, squeezing her hand as she kept her eyes closed, trying desperately to relax. "It may be part dwarf but it is also part elf, the child of one of the greatest elves I will ever know," he explained before gently brushing a kiss to her forehead. "And you forget, there is one person in this world who I have an allegiance to other than my father Tauriel," he stated, her eyes opening to look up at him as he watched her. "And that is you," he declared, a small smile decorating both their faces as they watched one another. "Rest, I won't let anything happen to you," he smiled, the redhead nodding before she shut her eyes and finally allowed herself to relax, aware that her friend was still clutching her hand.

**I had so many ideas of how Legolas would find out and how he would react and this became my favourite in the end. I hate the whole Legolas loving Tauriel in the movie, I just don't think it works and I think they work so well as a brother/sister relationship and hopefully you like that in this story. **

**Kili will return in the next chapter- doing what, I don't know but he will be there. I also need to start moving the story along as I am going very slow in time and if I carry on like this it will end up being a 200 chapter epic or something. **

**Please review and let me know what you think. I also apologise for how awful I have been at replying to your reviews. I am so busy but I will get around to replying to them because you are so wonderful and I want to thank you all but please know that I do read every single one, often more than once, and they not only make me smile but make my day! I seriously do need to get a life! **


	11. Chapter 11

**Hello again! Thank you again for your wonderful reviews, they are so wonderful and I just love hearing from you all. You are so kind and seem to really enjoy this story, which is amazing because I can't believe the response it's been receiving. Please keep reviewing, I love hearing from you and let me know your thoughts on this chapter. **

"I still can't believe that you're going to be a mother," Legolas smiled as Tauriel nodded, turning on her side to look at her friend who was lying beside her. Legolas hadn't left her for the entire day, instead keeping her occupied when she was awake and sitting beside her when she was asleep, the redhead often finding him asleep in the chair whenever she woke up. "Is it an odd feeling?" he asked quietly, glancing down at her abdomen as she gently brushed her fingers across her abdomen and nodded.

"I imagine when I start to feel it move it will feel really odd but at the moment I'm still trying to get used to the idea that there is a life growing inside me," she explained, Legolas nodding as she smiled at him. "I never thought I would have a child, I never thought I would know this feeling," she said quietly, resting her palm against her abdomen before smiling weakly. "From the moment I found out that I was pregnant, I have loved this baby. It's strange, being so in love with someone you have never met," she explained, the blonde nodding slowly before Tauriel moved closer and cuddled into his side, his arm wrapping tightly around her. "I just wish Kili was here to experience it too," Tauriel whispered, her eyes shutting as Legolas sighed and kept her close. "I have never seen anyone so devoted to family as Kili is, I just wish he was here to enjoy our baby," she continued, opening her eyes to glance up at the silent elf. "Do you think I am wrong to still believe he might come back to me?" she asked quietly, Legolas' head shaking as he smiled weakly across at her. "I hate that he is there but he isn't really, I hate that I can't tell him anything. I can't tell him about the baby because he wouldn't believe me, he would still believe that I was a dream," she whispered, Tauriel smiling when Legolas moved and gently pressed a kiss into her red hair.

"He will come back to you because he loves you," Legolas responded before sitting up and glancing down at his friend. "You have to stay strong, for your family," the blonde elf whispered, watching as a large smile decorated Tauriel's face.

"My family," Tauriel whispered before laughing gently. "I'm going to have a family Legolas," she smiled, sitting up slowly before she relaxed back against the pillows and shook her head in amazement. "You will visit me, won't you?" the redhead asked, glancing across at her friend as he turned to look at her in shock.

"Of course I will, they'll have to try and stop me from not visiting you all the time Tauriel," the blonde laughed before she took hold of his hand. "I am not going to let you to forget where you come from Tauriel," he explained, her eyebrows rising as she laughed gently. "If I ever visit and find you acting like one of those dwarves at a feast," he warned, Tauriel smiling as she shook her head and moved to wrap her arms around him in a hug. "Promise me that you'll not forget about me once I leave," he whispered to her, tears running down her cheeks as she nodded slowly before kissing his cheek.

"I will never forget you," Tauriel promised. "You are my greatest friend, my longest friend, how could I possibly forget you, you idiot?" Tauriel asked quietly before Legolas shrugged and smiled down at her. "And however much I love the dwarves, I am not going to start throwing food at people. I do appreciate their culture though. They are happy and have fun, they don't have to act proper and graceful like we do," she smiled before pressing a kiss to his cheek and laughing gently. "I can't believe how much my life has changed in a year Legolas," Tauriel whispered, cuddling into his side as they both relaxed back on the bed. "It has changed for the better," she explained as his smile grew. "I love Mirkwood, I love you but I have a future now. I'm not going to be doing the same thing every day for the rest of my life. I'm not longer locked away inside our kingdom," Tauriel whispered as Legolas glanced down at her. "You need to get out of Mirkwood," Tauriel said quietly to Legolas. "You need to be free. You need to explore," she whispered. "You need to leave your father's control and be you Legolas because there is so much more to you than just being the Prince of a kingdom that is hiding away from the rest of the world," Tauriel explained, watching her friend in amazement as he nodded slowly. "There is so much more to life than just our home."

"When did you become so wise?" Legolas asked quietly, laughing when Tauriel hit him in the arm. "I think the dwarf has been good for you Tauriel," he commented, Tauriel nodding slowly before she kissed his cheek gently and smiled. "It's nice to see you smile again," he admitted.

"It's nice to have a reason to smile," Tauriel smiled, unable to remove the smile from her face as she laughed gently. "I want you to meet Kili properly, when he's better," Tauriel said quietly, Legolas groaning as he fell back against the cushions and shut his eyes. "Stop it Legolas," she moaned, hitting him gently before glaring at him. She knew that Legolas was joking around but sometimes she hated him for it. "You are my brother and he is the man I love, you are going to meet him and you are going to be nice and become friends," she declared firmly, the elf groaning again as she shook her head at him. "For me Legolas, for your niece or nephew," Tauriel stated, his eyes immediately opening at her request.

"Niece or nephew?" he asked quietly.

"Of course your niece or nephew," she laughed before nudging him. "You are an idiot sometimes Legolas," she muttered, smiling when the blonde nodded. "Promise me that you will try and get along with Kili Legolas, he is a part of my life now; an important part of my life," Tauriel begged, the elf sighing before he nodded again.

"You know I would do anything for you mellon," he stated, the redhead smiling before she got off the bed and sighed. "You want to go and see Kili, don't you?" he asked quietly, not surprised when she nodded slowly and glanced across at the door. She hadn't gone this long without seeing Kili since Thorin had taken her to him the first time. She missed him. Even though he didn't know she was real and barely responded to her, she still enjoyed his company and liked knowing that he was there. "I guess I could go with you," he said quietly, shock covering Tauriel's face as she turned to face him. He would go with her? "At least then you'll have someone with you," he added as he climbed off the bed, the blonde elf laughing when Tauriel quickly ran over and wrapped her arms around him.

"Thank you, thank you, thank you," Tauriel smiled, leaning up to press a kiss to his cheek before she laughed gently and moved quickly towards the door. "Legolas, come on," she begged, Legolas rolling his eyes at her excitement before he joined her. Walking out of the room, Tauriel sighed as she quickly moved towards Kili's room, unable to remove the smile from her face at the prospect of seeing Kili again. "Will you wait outside please?" Tauriel asked quietly when they reached the door, Legolas glaring at her as she turned to face him. "Please?"

"What if something happens?" he asked quietly, Tauriel sighing before she took hold of his hand and squeezed it tightly.

"Then you will be out here but nothing will happen," she explained, moving towards the door again before slowly opening it. "I will be fine," the redhead smiled before stepping into the room and closing the door, not giving Legolas the chance to respond to her statement. Glancing around the dark room, Tauriel smiled weakly at the sight of the dwarf asleep in the bed, like usual. "Kili," the redhead whispered, smiling to herself as she moved towards the bed and gently sat down on the edge of it. "Oh Kili," Tauriel sighed, glancing down the ties that were wrapped around his wrists. The dwarves had clearly been concerned that he would become violent again and had tried their hardest to restrain him. "I'm sorry they had to do this to you," she whispered, leaning down to undo the ties. They weren't overly tight and she managed to undo them easily but she was still unhappy that this is what they had been forced to do. Lifting his hand gently, Tauriel pressed a kiss to his red wrist before sighing. "I'm sorry Kili," the redhead mumbled, hating that they had been forced to tie his hands together because of what he had done. Hearing him groan, Tauriel moved back slightly as he turned and slowly moved his hands, his eyes opening slowly before he glanced down at his wrists; not even noticing her as he stared at his wrists in amazement.

"What?" he asked quietly, Tauriel smiling when he slowly turned and looked up at her. "You've come back," he whispered, the redhead nodding while the dwarf sat up; amazement covering his face as he continued to watch her. "I thought you would never come back after this morning," he admitted quietly, shocking her when he reached across for her hand and gently laced his fingers with hers. "I hurt you Tauriel," Kili whispered, her head shaking as he squeezed her hand. "You screamed. You were screaming and I realised…" he began before falling silent, glancing down at their hands as she watched him. He knew. He knew she was real. Moving closer to him, Tauriel bit into her lip as she moved her free hand to his cheek, gently moving his head to look up at her as she smiled weakly. "You are real," he mumbled, tears filling her eyes as she nodded slowly. "You're actually here," Kili beamed, a small laugh leaving her lips as she nodded again. "I thought you were dead."

"I thought you were dead too," Tauriel sobbed, unable to remove the small smile that now decorated her face as tears continued to run down her cheeks. "I thought I'd lost you forever Kili," she admitted, the dwarf's head shaking as she bit into her lip. "I held you in my arms afterwards, I kissed you, I grieved for you. I have only just stopped grieving," the redhead muttered, tears running down her cheeks as he shook his head and rested both his hands on her cheeks, his thumbs wiping the tears away gently. "I thought you were dead," Tauriel whispered, the dwarf nodding slowly as he stared at her in amazement. "I thought I had lost you forever and I never told you…" she began before falling silent, the dwarf watching her in confusion as she smiled weakly.

"Told me what?" he asked, a small laugh leaving her lips as she shook her head. There was so much she needed to tell him, so much that she wanted to tell him. "Oh god, I hurt you," he suddenly blurted out, panic covering his face as she shook her head quickly.

"Of course you didn't hurt me Kili," she whispered.

"I pushed you, you hit the floor, you were screaming Tauriel," he listed, her head shaking at what he believed. "You were shouting on the floor and I still thought you were a dream. How stupid am I?" he asked, moving away from her as she continued to watch him. "You could have been really hurt, I could have really hurt you," Kili muttered, his head shaking at the realisation of what he had done. He could have really hurt the woman he loved, he could have really injured her. "Were you hurt?" he questioned, glancing up at her as she shook her head. "You were shouting," Kili remembered.

"I was nervous," she said quietly before shaking her head again. She didn't want him to learn about their baby like this. She wanted to tell him later; when he wasn't worried about the fact that he might have hurt her without realising. "But I know that you would never hurt me Kili, it was just the shock of it," she explained before reaching across for his hand, squeezing it gently as he smiled weakly. "Please don't think about it, it was a mistake," the redhead whispered quietly before leaning across and gently pressing a kiss to his cheek. "You made a mistake, an honest mistake and everyone understands that. They understand that you didn't mean to do what you did."

"They tied my hands together," Kili remembered, his voice full of guilt as he relaxed back against the pillows and shut his eyes. "My own kin didn't trust me enough to not tie me up. They thought I would hurt someone, they actually thought I would hurt someone properly," he said quietly, unable to remove the sound of sadness that filled his voice. "I would never hurt anyone I loved," the dwarf mumbled, Tauriel's hand squeezing his again before she moved towards him and gently rested her forehead against his. "I hurt you," he sobbed, the elf only just realising that there were tears running down his cheeks. "I think you should leave Tauriel," he whispered, shocking her as his eyes slowly opened. "I don't want to hurt you again."

"I'm not leaving you," she said firmly, remaining close to him as she clung onto his hand. "I am never leaving you again Kili, not after what happened," the redhead declared before pressing another kiss to his forehead. "You are stuck with me now," she whispered, her fingers brushing through his hair as she stared at him. "Because I love you," she stated, beaming at the shock that covered her face. "I love you, I love you and I wish I had told you sooner," the redhead continued, pressing another kiss to his forehead as he laughed gently. "I wish I had told you that night in Lake Town or when you were about to leave, I should have told you every moment of our together. I've regretted the way we parted for so long now," she whispered, tears running down her cheeks as he shook his head. "I thought you died not knowing how I felt," she admitted. "I thought you died thinking that I didn't love you."

"Of course I knew. I knew that you felt something, I didn't know whether it was that strong yet but I knew that you felt something for me," Kili whispered, unable to remove the smile from his face. "It's nice to hear you say it though, amralime," he said quietly as she nodded slowly. "I love you Tauriel, I love you," he smiled, the redhead laughing gently as she clung onto his hands, unable to remove the smile from her face. "I'm sorry for how I acted, how I behaved earlier. I'm sorry that I attacked you, that I hurt you, that I had to be restrained because I was violent towards you," he explained, her head shaking at him. "I promise that I will never hurt you again, that I will spend the rest of my life making it up to you for what I did this morning."

"Kili, please don't feel guilty for what happened," the redhead smiled. "Kili," Tauriel said quietly, the dwarf nodding as she stared at him. "Kiss me," she whispered, the dwarf nodding before he leant forward and gently pressed his lips to her, the redhead moaning as her fingers ran through his hair. "I love you," she whispered before deepening the kiss, the dwarf moving them so that she was lying back on the mattress as he leant over her. She couldn't believe that he was kissing her, that he was actually touching her, and that he actually believed that she was real. Feeling his hand move down her side, Tauriel immediately felt herself panic as she realised where his hand was moving. Pressing her hand to his chest, Tauriel pushed him away slightly, her lips moving away from his before she shook her head at him.

"What's wrong?" he asked quietly, moving away from her as she sat up and sighed. "Did I…" he began, her head shaking when she smiled weakly across at him.

"It's not, it's just there's something I have to tell you," Tauriel admitted, confusion covering his face as she sighed. "I have been waiting to tell you for so long," the redhead said quietly, suddenly feeling very nervous about telling him. She had been desperate for Kili to recover so that she could tell him but the baby but now she could, she was nervous. She was nervous about telling him, nervous about how he would react about the news. "I don't know how to tell you," she whispered.

"Just be honest, just tell me the truth Tauriel," Kili stated, leaning across to press a kiss to her cheek. "You can tell me anything," he whispered, the redhead smiling before she took hold of his hand and gently pressed it to her abdomen, the dwarf's attention remaining focused on her.

"I'm pregnant," Tauriel said quietly, smiling at the shock that immediately covered his face at the news. "That night in Lake Town," she whispered, laughing when Kili leant across and kissed her quickly before shaking his head in amazement. "We're going to have a baby Kili," Tauriel smiled, laughing when the dwarf pressed his other hand to her bump before laughing in amazement.

"Our baby, you're going to have our baby," he smiled, the redhead nodding as she felt the tears appear in her eyes again. It was ridiculous, crying when she was sad, crying when she was happy, just crying at everything. "Are you both healthy? Both safe?" he asked quietly, the redhead nodding as she sighed. "This morning," he whispered. "You hit the floor, you could have…" he began, his head shaking as Tauriel remained silent.

"Please don't think about it," the redhead said quietly. "We're both healthy, Oin checked us this morning after it happened. I just have to rest and start looking after myself properly," she explained, the dwarf shaking his head as she pressed her hands onto his. "We are both perfectly fine though. We are going to have a child, the two of us are going to have this beautiful life together and you are going to be the most wonderful father to this baby, our tiny precious baby," she declared, leaning across to kiss him gently before resting her forehead against his. "You are going to be a father Kili, you are going to be the greatest father to this baby," she explained before kissing him again. "We are going to be our very own little family Kili. You, me and our baby," she whispered against his lips as he nodded slowly.

"Our little baby," Kili smiled, his hand running across her abdomen before he laughed. "We made a baby," he laughed, kissing her quickly before she moved to cuddle into his side. "Does anyone else know?" he asked quietly.

"Oin, of course, and Legolas," she whispered, the dwarf nodding slowly before she bit into her lip. "I also told Thorin when I first arrived here," the redhead explained, laughing at the shock that immediately covered his face. "I was shocked too but he has been very supportive, he's even giving me his protection," the elf added, unable to stop her smile growing when Kili burst out laughing at her news. "I rather like him, your uncle," she admitted quietly, her fingers lacing with his again as he nodded slowly. "He is so different to how he was during the battle. I thought he would hate me, hate the baby because I was an elf but he has talked to me and looked after me. He sat outside of my room all day today to make sure that I rested," she added.

"You will soon have all of us dwarves charmed, I might have to start warning them off," Kili smirked, her eyes rolling before she leant up and kissed him gently. "Send all those admirers away because you are my elf," he stated, her eyebrows rising as she looked up at him in amazement.

"Your elf?" she asked quietly.

"My elf," he repeated before kissing her again, the redhead smiling against his lips as he pulled her close; neither one of them wanting to let the other go.

**So Kili has now recovered. I originally was going to have him stay ill for a lot longer but I wanted him better because I wanted Tauriel to be happy and I have so many plans for Kili/Tauriel scenes and also Legolas. Anyway, what do you think? I'm not particularly happy with this chapter but then again, I'm picky and never seem to be particularly happy about anything. **


	12. Chapter 12

**Hello! I apologise for how long it's taken me to update and for how short the chapter is in comparison to others but I thought I would get something up for you to read and to show that I haven't forgotten about you. **

**I had a crap week at university, mainly because of one bloody day, and have written this from beneath my duvet, while pretending the world doesn't exist so if it's awful, I apologise in advance. Thank you for all your wonderful reviews, I hope you continue to enjoy this story and review after you've read it. Let me know your thoughts and any ideas you might have. **

"You and I need to discuss the Coronation tomorrow," Tauriel whispered as she gently brushed her fingers across his cheek, glancing down at the dwarf as he stared up at her. She had tried to leave him to go back to her room but the dwarf had refused to let her go, wrapping his arms tightly around her body and keeping her in the bed beside him. "Are you going to attend? Your uncle would love it if you were there, I'm sure that it would mean the world to him," she asked quietly, the dark haired dwarf sighing before he shut his eyes. Tauriel had been watching him all evening; noticing how he pretended not to be exhausted and continued to move closer to her whenever he could. She loved that Kili had returned to her, loved that he wanted to be close to her but she could also see that part of him was different. He was quieter and there were moments, moments when she could see the sadness decorate his face when he thought she was looking. "It could be your first public event," she suggested, the dwarf's head shaking as she bit into her lip. "You are the heir Tauriel, you should be there beside your Uncle when he is finally crowned King of Erebor," she declared. "What better way is there to show your people that you are well again than to attend the coronation?" she smiled, his head shaking again before he sat up and glanced across the room.

"I don't want to go," Kili admitted, not looking at her as he said the almost silent words. Instead, the dwarf continue to stare into the darkness of his room; completely aware that Tauriel was watching him. "I want to stay here," he whispered, shocking the redhead with his statement. She had thought that attending the coronation would have been something that Kili would have desperately wanted to do; to stand beside his uncle as he was crowned King under the Mountain. "Let's just stay here," he said quietly, turning to face her as she remained perfectly still, watching him in complete silence. "Let's just stay here, the three of us," he suggested, moving to lie down beside her again before his hand slowly moved towards her bump and gently pressed rested there.

"I'm going to the coronation Kili, I have to go to the coronation," Tauriel admitted, leaning forward before gently pressing her lips to his; kissing him briefly before she rested her hand on his cheek. "Come with me. I won't leave you alone; I will be there to support you the whole time Kili. You won't be alone," Tauriel suggested, the small smile remaining on her face as he remained silent. "You are your Uncle's heir, he would want you to be there, you need to be there Kili," she stated before kissing him again, the dwarf moaning against her lips as he kept his hand against her abdomen. "Your kin need you to be there too. I heard from your mother will be arriving tomorrow morning for the coronation, she has been travelling for days now," she said quietly, the dwarf shaking his head while he shut his eyes. "She would love to see you standing there beside your uncle, alive and well."

"My mother is coming?" he asked quietly, the redhead nodding as she cuddled closer to him. "You are going to meet my mother tomorrow Tauriel," Kili commented, his eyes opening to glance across at her as she nodded again. She was nervous about meeting Dis, after hearing so much about her from all the dwarves; especially Kili. She knew that Dis meant the world to both Kili and Fili and they had both wanted to make her proud. "She is going to love you," he whispered, his fingers lacing with hers as she bit into her lip. "And she will be so excited to learn that she is going to be a grandmother."

"Will she be?" Tauriel finally asked quietly, her hand moving to join his as he nodded. "Stop changing the subject Kili," she suddenly stated, the dwarf laughing gently before sighing and shutting his eyes again. "Come to the coronation, show them all that you are alive and well. The dwarves, elves and men will all be here tomorrow to celebrate and he is going to need your support too," she explained. "Let us show the world that the Line of Durin is strong," the redhead whispered, pressing his hand gently to her abdomen before she leant across and kissed him gently. "Talk to me, tell me why you are still hiding in here even though you're much better," she said quietly, kissing him again as a sad smile decorated his face; his fingers brushing gently across her cheek as she watched him. "What are you thinking? Tell me what is going on," the redhead begged.

"I'm not supposed to be the heir Tauriel," Kili finally admitted, the redhead struggling to hear him as she watched him in confusion. "My brother is supposed to be the one standing beside Thorin tomorrow," the dwarf continued before sitting up, his fingers running through his hair while the redhead bit into her lip and slowly sat up beside him. "My brother is dead and everyone wants me to take his place, like it's nothing important," he whispered, her eyes shutting as she leant forward and gently pressed a kiss into his hair. "I can't just become the heir, like it has always been my title. It was supposed to be the role of my brother. He was one day going to be the King and he would have children, I would never be the heir to the throne," he said quietly. "I'm going to be the King one day, our baby will one day be the ruler of this kingdom after me and we never should've been. I should be there, supporting my uncle and brother, not there as the heir to the throne."

"But you are the heir now," Tauriel whispered, aware that she was being overly harsh now. "Hiding away in this room will not stop that. Yes, one day you will be King and our baby will follow but that is not all you are," she stated, her arms wrapping around him as he shut his eyes again and breathed out. "You are the love of my life, you are the father of our child, you are a nephew and a son," she whispered before shaking her head again. "You are part of such a large loving family, please stop hiding away. Your family is grieving too Kili; your uncle for his nephew, your mother for her son, your kin for a dear friend and you for your brother but you need to be there to show them that you are still alive. You are still alive my love, you still breathe and feel. Don't let your brother's death mean nothing."

"Mean nothing? It means everything," the dwarf suddenly stated, Tauriel sighing as she realised that she had upset him now without meaning too. "Why did I survive? Why didn't Fili" he asked quietly, his head shaking as he turned to face her, tears filling his dark eyes. "He was the heir, he was the better brother, why was he the one who died?" he asked quietly, Tauriel's head shaking before she leant forward and pressed a kiss to his forehead. "I should have saved him but instead I watched as he died. He looked so scared, he looked so scared and he knew," he whispered, tears running down his cheeks as she bit into her lip. "He knew they were going to kill him, they were taunting him, and then they stabbed my brother and threw him off the edge. He was just thrown like he was rubbish and then they were going to come and kill me."

"But they didn't," Tauriel whispered, not knowing how best to comfort him. "Fili died protecting you and Thorin. He died so that you could have your homeland and your lives; don't let his death be in vain," she mumbled, pressing a kiss to his shoulder as the dwarf sighed, shutting his eyes again before nodding slowly. "Come with me to the coronation tomorrow. If you really hate the idea, we can just stand at the back of the room and watch, away from it all, but I don't want you to regret not going one day," she explained, remaining as close to him as she could. "Come to the coronation tomorrow, please," she begged, Kili sighing before he slowly nodded and turned to face her. "You will come?" she asked.

"Yes," he responded. "Because you asked me so nicely," he added, the redhead laughing before she kissed him again. "Don't tell anyone though Tauriel, I don't want anyone to know in case I can't do it tomorrow," Kili added, the elf nodding slowly before she kissed him gently again. "If I'm going to the coronation tomorrow, I want you to be there by my side Tauriel," he said quietly, his fingers lacing with hers as she sighed and rested her forehead against his. "As the mother of my child and as my future wife…" he whispered, amazement covering her face as she remained completely still beside him. Was he asking her to marry him?

"Kili," Tauriel said in amazement, watching him as a large smile decorated his face. "Are you…?" she began quietly, the dwarf nodding quickly before she laughed in amazement.

"I'm asking you to marry me," Kili stated, unable to remove his growing smile while Tauriel laughed in amazement. He was asking her to marry him. Kili actually wanted to marry her! "I want to spend the rest of my life with you by my side amralime. I want to grow old next to you, I want to have a family with you and I want you to be my Queen one day," he explained, his hand cupping her cheek as she continued to watch him in amazement. "When I leave this room tomorrow, I want to be stood beside my future wife," he whispered, unable to remove the smile from his face as she leant forward and gently kissed him, her fingers running through his hair as his free hand snuck around her back. "I want you to be my wife and I want nothing more than to be your husband," he said quietly against her lips.

"Yes," Tauriel finally smiled, a small laugh leaving both their lips as they watched one another. "Yes, I will become your wife," she responded, her arms wrapping around him as he kissed her again; the elf deepening the kiss as he moved them so she was lying back on the bed. "We're getting married," she laughed while the dwarf looked down at her. This was her future. She was going to be a mother and a wife and Kili was her future. She had a future; a new and exciting future full of different things. Only a year ago she had been repeating the same day over and over again, believing that her life was always going to revolve around being Captain of the Guard until Kili had suddenly come crashing into her world. Laughing to herself at how much the world had changed, Tauriel cuddled into Kili's side as he laced their fingers together and the two of them watched one another. "Husband," she mumbled.

"Wife," he replied, pressing a gentle kiss to her forehead as she continued to smile.

**What do you think? Love it? Hate it? Is it awful? I don't particularly like it but well, it was the best chapter I could write out of all the attempts I did. **

**The coronation will be in the next chapter and Tauriel will meet Dis for the first time as well. **


	13. Chapter 13

**Each section got longer and longer so I've decided to split the coronation over a couple of chapters rather than writing one long epic. I know I have been rubbish at updating recently but I'm having a bit of a hard time and have lost all confidence in myself, if I'm honest, when it comes to every part of my life so it's taken a while to actually get the energy to write the chapter. Apologies for if it is awful! **

**Thank you again for your amazing reviews. You have all been so kind and they are so lovely to read. **

Laughing gently, Tauriel slowly opened her eyes to look up at the sleeping dwarf. He looked so peaceful, his face buried into the pillow as his chest rose and fell with each breath. Even now, after spending so many hours with him, she still couldn't believe that he was actually alive and beside her. Brushing her fingers slowly across his bare chest, the tips gently brushed across the dark hairs that decorated his skin, while her smile continued to grow. She felt like the luckiest elf; waking up to find the man she loved asleep beside her and their child growing inside her. Feeling the dwarf begin to move when he started to wake up, Tauriel bit into her lip as his eyes slowly opened; his smile growing as he glanced down at her.

"Good morning," Kili whispered, leaning down to kiss her gently as her smile grew against his lips. "I love waking up like this," he muttered when he pulled away from her, her eyebrows rising while his hand snuck around her waist, keeping her close to his body. "My future wife curled up beside me," he explained, pressing a gentle kiss to her forehead as she buried her face into his neck and sighed. "I can't wait to wake up like this for the rest of my life," Kili continued, shutting his eyes when she gently pressed a kiss to his neck. "Waking up to find you awake beside me, one day our little dwarflings running into the room to wake us," the dwarf explained, a gentle laugh leaving Tauriel's lips at the idea of their children running into their room in the future.

"Dwarflings?" she asked suddenly. "More than one?" she continued, the dwarf nodding as he stared at her again while her smile continued to grow. "Elves very rarely have children and they are very precious to us when they are born. I never thought I'd have a child, let alone contemplate having more than one," the redhead admitted, Kili's fingers brushing through her hair as she looked up at him. "I am so excited for this tiny life to enter our world Kili," Tauriel added, her hand moving to rest against her abdomen again before she sighed. "You have completely changed my life, do you know that?" she asked quietly, the dwarf glancing down at her as she watched him. "I was just the Captain of the Guard. I was going to spend the whole of my life guarding Mirkwood, even though I wanted to venture outside our gates. Then a company of dwarves walked into our lands and I arrested you and everything changed," she whispered. "I saved you, I fell in love with you, I threated my King to save you Kili," she laughed before sitting up, her fingers brushing her hair away from her face while the dwarf began to brush his fingers across her back, where the material of her night dress had slipped down to reveal bare skin. "I am going to be a wife and mother."

"The most wonderful wife and mother," Kili whispered, sitting up to gently press a kiss to her spine before his hand moved to rest against her abdomen. "Let's tell everyone this evening," he smiled, the elf's eyebrows rising as she turned her head to look at him. "Let's tell them all about us. We have Uncle's blessing, let's tell our friends, my kin, that we are getting married and we are going to have a child. Let's show them, at dinner, that there is already an heir to the line of Durin," he declared, a laugh leaving the redhead's lips before she leant across and kissed him gently. "Only if you want too though," he added quickly, worried that he was going too fast.

"I just don't want to ruin your Uncle's coronation with our news," she said honestly.

"Ruin? How could our news ruin this Tauriel?" he suddenly asked, the elf sighing as she turned to face him, her fingers brushing against his cheek as she shook her head. Sometimes Kili was so blind to the obvious. "This is wonderful news; a wedding, a baby," he began.

"An elf?" she interrupted.

"Yes, an elf," Kili repeated. "My elf," he said proudly, the dwarf groaning at the knock at the door. "I don't care that you're an elf, my uncle no longer cares that you are an elf," the dwarf continued, his eyes shutting when someone knocked at the door again. "Go away, I'm still sleeping," Kili called out, the redhead shaking her head while laughing gently; the knocking getting louder. "Whoever that is," he whispered to the brunette, her head shaking as he climbed out of the bed and slowly moved to the door.

"We should be getting out of bed anyway Kili. We have things to do before this afternoon," Tauriel called out to him as she rested back against the pillows, watching him laugh as he shook his head and moved to open the door. Watching as the door creaked open; Tauriel immediately noticed the way Kili tensed when he looked out into the corridor. "Kili?" she asked quietly.

"Mother?" Kili's voice answered, panic decorating her face as she glanced down at what she was wearing. She was no way dressed appropriately for meeting her fiancés mother for the first time. "You are early! I wasn't expecting to see you until later," the dwarf responded, clearly panicked by his mother's appearance as Tauriel looked around the room, desperately trying to find somewhere she could hide or at least find something a bit less revealing to wear in front of her future mother in law. Watching as Kili stepped closer towards his mother, shutting the door more behind him, Tauriel quickly moved out of the bed before biting into her lip. Why had she moved all her clothes back into her room the previous evening?

"Are you not going to invite me in Kili?" a female voice asked.

"I…I…" Kili began, Tauriel groaning as she glanced around and realised there was nothing that was big enough to cover her figure. It wasn't like her night dress was showing off her figure too much but it showed her pregnancy perfectly and she knew that neither she nor Kili's mother would be comfortable with her dressed like that during their first meeting. "Could I get dressed first? We could go and see Uncle together mother," Kili suggested, glancing back round the door as Tauriel looked at him and sighed.

"Kili, I am your mother. I have seen you dressed in much less, now let me in," the dwarf continued, a small smirk covering Tauriel's face at Kili's mother response before she heard the young dwarf groan again. "Kili, what is the matter with you?" she asked quickly, the redhead sitting down on the edge of the bed again before she brushed her fingers across her abdomen again. "Kili, I have just arrived in Erebor. I am exhausted, I would like to sit down and talk with my son," she explained, Tauriel noticing that Kili was beginning to weaken. She knew that he couldn't argue with his mother forever, that in the end she would persuade him and he would let her enter the room.

"Kili, let her in," Tauriel sighed, the young dwarf turning to face her as she smiled weakly.

"Who is that?" his mother questioned as Kili stepped into the room; finally giving his mother the chance to enter the room. Watching as the dark haired dwarf stepped inside, Tauriel bit into her lip as a large glare decorated the other woman's face. "An elf? What is an elf doing in your bed Kili?" the female dwarf questioned; her anger obvious as her son slowly moved towards the redhead and pressed a kiss to her forehead. "I can't believe this, an elf," the dwarf muttered, Tauriel glancing across at her nervously as she saw the frustration growing on the other woman's face. She clearly wasn't happy about the elf's presence in her son's room.

"Mother, I would like you to meet Tauriel," Kili said proudly, glancing across at his mother. "My fiancée," he added, falling silent when his mother shook her head at the news and stepped back towards the door. "Tauriel, this is my mother Dis," the dwarf continued, Tauriel grabbing his hand to squeeze it gently. She could see that he was upset at his mother's reaction to the news. Kili had been living in a dream, imagining that everyone would accept their relationship and his mother's arrival had quickly destroyed the idea.

"It is nice to finally meet you Dis," Tauriel said quietly, desperately trying to be polite for Kili. She could see that his mother was angry at her overall presence in the room. "Kili has told me a lot about you," she continued, watching as the dark haired dwarf continued to glare at her. Tauriel wanted to walk out, leave the mother and son alone to talk, but she was aware that if she moved, the signs of her pregnancy would become very clear to the other woman. "Kili," Tauriel whispered, looking down at her bump, Kili following her eyes before nodding in realisation.

"Mother, I think you should sit down," Kili suggested, looking back at his mother while she stood silently in the doorway. "Mother, I have something to tell you," Kili explained, moving away from the redhead to approach his mother while she continued to stand; still glaring across at the redhead. "I love Tauriel and she loves me," he began, Dis scoffing at his statement while Tauriel bit into her lip, desperately trying to remain calm. She wanted to fight, to argue with Kili's mother and say that she was wrong to be disgusted by their relationship but she knew that the dwarf would be upset by her fighting with his beloved mother. "We want to spend our lives together," he smiled, turning to look back at the redhead as she smiled weakly at him. "Well my life together," he added, Tauriel glaring at him before he laughed gently and looked at his mother again. "I want to grow old beside Tauriel, I don't care that she's an elf," he continued.

"An elf Kili," Dis muttered, disgust filling her voice as he nodded.

"An elf mother, yes. I am in love with an elf, I want to marry an elf, I actually love that she is an elf," he declared, Tauriel's eyebrows rising at his final statement. He loved that she was an elf? "I love that she is different to me, I love hearing about the things she cherishes; that I have never even given a second thought. Tauriel adores the starlight, she has made me appreciate the beauty of the stars," Kili began, smiling across at the redhead before looking at his mother. "Mother, she is so much more than an elf. She is a life, just like me, just like you," he declared, falling silent when his mother shook her head again. "Mother, you would love her if you could see pass the fact that she is an elf," the dwarf declared, falling silent when his mother moved towards the door and opened it. "Mother," Kili begged. "Please."

"She is our enemy Kili," Dis stated before leaving the room, slamming the door behind her. Watching from the bed as Kili stood perfectly still, the elf sighed before standing and moving towards him, her arms wrapping around him as he rested back against her chest and shut his eyes.

"I'm sorry, my love," Tauriel whispered to the dwarf, gently pressing a kiss into his dark hair while he remained completely still against her. "Kili, it was probably the shock. She has just arrived in Erebor, she has learnt that one of her sons died, the other was severely injured and then she comes to see him, to find that he is in bed with the enemy," Tauriel said quietly, not knowing how best to comfort him. Kili had been there in the room; she couldn't pretend that Dis had acted in any other way towards her.

"You are not the enemy. Why does everyone see you as the enemy?" Kili declared, his frustration obvious as he stepped away from her. "Our enemy are the orcs that fought against us, the spiders that tried to kill us, the darkness that is growing. Our enemy are not the elves. Yes, we are different, we believe in different things but you are not our enemies. After everything that has happened, how can people still believe that you are our enemy?" he shouted, his head shaking while Tauriel moved to sit down on the edge of the bed again. Sighing to himself, Kili slowly turned to face the elf before approaching her and resting his hand on her cheek. "I'm sorry Tauriel, I shouldn't have shouted," he suddenly whispered, pressing a kiss to her forehead gently. "I shouldn't have shouted at you," the dwarf continued, brushing his fingers through her hair before shaking his head. "You should start getting ready for the coronation Tauriel," he mumbled, shocking her with his sudden change of topic.

"Kili," Tauriel whispered before smiling weakly and taking hold of his hand. "I know you're sad about your mother's reaction but I am sure most of it was because of the shock," she explained, leaning down to gently press a kiss to his lips. "If Thorin Oakenshield can grow to accept me, then I'm sure that your mother might one day approve," she added, Kili laughing against her lips before he shook his head and moved his hand to her stomach. "I know what you are thinking Kili," Tauriel whispered, resting her forehead against his as he shut his eyes. "Please still come to the coronation today," she begged. "Let's tell everyone tonight, tell everyone about our engagement and the baby.

"But my mother…" he began.

"Is only one dwarf of many. There is a whole mountain full of dwarves here Kili," she responded, his eyes opening as she smiled at him. "Maybe if she sees that others support us, then she might begin to change her opinion," Tauriel suggested, not believing her own words. She was desperately trying to comfort him, to make him believe that his mother would one day accept that her son wanted to marry an elf but she knew that it would take a lot for Dis to ever be happy about her son's choice. "You told me once that you were not ashamed."

"I am not Tauriel," Kili declared quickly. "How could I ever be ashamed of you? Of either of you?" he questioned, his fingers brushing against her abdomen before he sighed. "You are going to be my wife, whether my mother accepts it or not, and we are going to be a family, whether she wants to be a part of it or not," the dwarf declared before lacing his fingers with her and leading her towards the door. "Go and get dressed, I will come and meet you before we join the others. I want to re-enter the coronation with my fiancée by my side," the dwarf smiled, opening the door as Tauriel nodded and walked out of the room silently; aware that Kili probably wanted to be alone for a while to think about everything.

**So I decided that Dis would be the figure who would be the most against Tauriel and Kili being together in the story. She wasn't in Erebor; she hasn't had the time to adjust to Tauriel like the other dwarves have and I really wanted to write some hostility. I desperately needed some angst in my life and this was the perfect place to channel it. **

**Anyway, let me know what you think. Do you love it? Hate it? Want more? Never want me to write again? **


	14. Chapter 14

**Hello again! **

**Thank you for all your wonderful reviews and all the lovely messages you sent in relation to my recent bout of misery. You have all been so kind and they all meant so much to me, so thank you for being so lovely. I apologise for how long it's been taken me to update but I've been trying to do essays and also have just got a new job, which is my dream job, but a lot of my time has disappeared. **

Tauriel could hear him pacing outside the door. The redhead had waited almost five minutes after hearing him walking up and down outside her room, expecting him to knock on the door and becoming more concerned every time his footsteps became quieter. She knew that he was worried, that he most likely had spent their time alone thinking about his mother's reaction and the reaction the rest of his kin would have when they entered the coronation together. Pushing her hair away from her face, Tauriel sighed before nodding to herself and moving towards the door in silence. She couldn't wait for Kili to knock for her. They didn't have long until the coronation started and she didn't want him to spend the whole event miserable. She knew how excited he had been for his uncle being crowned King under the Mountain and she didn't want anything to ruin the day for him.

"Kili," Tauriel called out when she opened the door, a small smile covering her face when the dwarf immediately turned to face her. "Come inside," the redhead said quietly, moving out of the way to allow him into her bedroom before she shut the door and sighed. Turning around to face the dwarf, Tauriel sighed before she sat on the edge of the bed and patted the space beside her; Kili slowly moving to join her before she took hold of his hand and squeezed it. "Tell me what you have been thinking," the elf begged, still clutching onto his hand as the dwarf sighed. "Talk to me Kili," she said quietly, leaning across to press a kiss into his dark hair while he shut his eyes and shook his head. "It is your mother, isn't it?" she asked quietly, the dwarf nodding slowly before looking up at her and smiling weakly.

"You look so beautiful," he whispered.

"Don't change the subject Kili," Tauriel responded, Kili laughing gently before he squeezed her hand again. "I know your mother's reaction upset you," the redhead said quietly, desperately trying to get him to talk. She didn't want him to go into the coronation replaying that morning over and over again while trying to act happy around all his kin. She didn't want him to go in feeling defeated because of his mother's reaction. "If you would prefer, I could stay here Kili. Your kin would love to see you there and we can tell them another time," Tauriel said quietly as Kili slowly moved off the bed and moved to the other side of the room. "Kili, listen to me," the redhead explained, moving to join him before she knelt down in front of him and took hold of his hands. "I know you are not ashamed of me, I will never believe that, even if you want me to stay behind," the redhead smiled, pressing a kiss to his forehead before squeezing his hands and resting her forehead against his.

"I don't want you to be forced to hide away because of me," Kili mumbled, letting go of one hand before he brushed his fingers across her cheek. "I don't know what to do now," the dwarf admitted, sounding so lost as she remained perfectly still. "I want to be there, with you and show you and our baby off to everyone," he began before shaking his head. "But I also don't want to do it today. What if everyone hates the idea? What if they are all disgusted like my mother was? What if we do ruin my uncle's coronation with our news?" the dwarf questioned, clearly upset as the redhead pressed a kiss to his forehead. "I just want to do what's best for everyone, especially for you two," he stated, moving his hand to rest against her abdomen while she nodded.

"I know you do," Tauriel explained before kissing him gently. "I am going to stay behind," Tauriel said quietly, feeling him tense beside her at the news. "Don't argue with me Kili," she immediately added firmly, the dwarf laughing gently at her immediate awareness that he would try and fight her decision. "He is your uncle, you are the heir, you need to be there today Kili. I do not need to be there, Legolas is there to represent my kin," Tauriel explained as he nodded slowly. "Thorin has been like a father to you for all of your life my love, he will want you to be there with him," she whispered, kissing him again before he stepped away from her. "Go, stand beside your uncle and be the prince that you are," Tauriel smiled as she moved to sit down on the floor, her hand moving to her abdomen as the dwarf stood in front of her. "And then come back to us and be the fiancée and father that you also are," the redhead smiled as the dwarf sighed and nodded, trying to make himself smile.

"You shouldn't be forced to stay behind to keep my kin happy," Kili muttered, his fingers brushing his blue tunic down while Tauriel watched in silence.

"And I wouldn't but I don't want to make things even more difficult between you and your mother today," Tauriel explained as the dwarf groaned, the redhead sighing as she stood up and moved towards him again. "Kili, you have survived trolls, Mirkwood's prisons, orcs and a battle. You can get through this," she listed, her voice full of pride as the dwarf stared at her. "Be strong tonight Kili," Tauriel whispered, pressing a kiss to his lips before she forced herself to smile; her fingers playing with his tunic. "You look very handsome."

"And you look so beautiful, you should be there too Tauriel," Kili whispered, his fingers playing with the green material of her dress. "What will you do tonight?" he asked quietly, watching as she shrugged. She didn't know what she was going to do. She hadn't originally thought that she would not be attending the coronation; it was the whole reason why she had come to Erebor. She didn't have any other plans for the evening but she also knew that there was no way that the evening would go to plan if she was there with Kili. His mother's reaction had proven to them both that not everyone was going to be accepting like Bofur and Thorin.

"I'm going to think about our wedding and our baby," Tauriel responded, desperately trying to think of some way of making the dwarf feel like she wouldn't be bored. "You need to leave now, you don't want to be late," she explained, kissing him quickly before he nodded and sighed.

"Don't wait up Tauriel, I'll sneak in when it's over," the dwarf responded, slowly moving towards the door as Tauriel nodded, watching as the dwarf finally walked out of the room. Brushing her fingers across her bump, the redhead sighed as she glanced down at her hand.

"I guess it's just the two of us tonight, little one," Tauriel whispered before moving towards the bed and sitting down; suddenly feeling very alone.

KILI&TAURIEL

"I'm so glad that you could attend," Thorin said quietly as he sat at the table, glancing across at his silent nephew. Thorin had never been prouder than he had been in the moment he was crowned King, with his young nephew standing beside him. There had been a moment, not that long ago, when he had believed he'd lost both the dwarves he had seen like his own sons but that had now changed. Kili was sat beside him, alive and his heir. "It is a shame that your elf was unable to join you," he added, not surprised when Kili finally looked across at him and nodded slowly.

"Mother would not have approved," Kili said quietly, glancing across at Dis as she laughed with Balin and Dwalin. "Tauriel decided that she wouldn't attend tonight, in case she upset someone," he said quietly, thinking back to the redhead he had left alone in her room. He missed her. He had wanted her with him at the coronation; he hadn't wanted to share that moment with her. He wanted her to be sat beside him at the feast in the space she belonged in. She was going to be his wife and the mother of his child; she was supposed to be sat beside him, joining in the festivities instead of hiding away. "She deserves better than this."

"I have not had time to talk to your mother today, I only saw her briefly when she arrived," Thorin commented, watching his nephew as he nodded slowly. "She didn't react well to Tauriel?" he asked.

"She didn't even say much. She just said that Tauriel was our enemy and walked out but she was clearly disgusted," Kili whispered before shaking his head. He was supposed to be happy. The whole reason Tauriel hadn't attended was so that he would celebrate with his kin but instead he was sat at the table feeling miserable. "She hasn't even talked to me tonight," the dwarf sighed, hearing his uncle groan in frustration. They both knew that Dis was stubborn and she hadn't gotten to know the elves like they had. Hearing footsteps approaching them, the two dwarves fell silent as Legolas approached them, the blonde elf bowing his head at Thorin before glancing across at Kili.

"Where is Tauriel?" Legolas asked as Kili sighed. He had known since he had arrived that Legolas was going to be looking for the redhead. "I have not seen her for days," the elf continued, the dwarf nodding slowly as he noticed the concern that briefly covered Legolas' face.

"Tauriel decided not to join us tonight," Kili explained quietly, watching as Legolas' eyebrows rose in confusion. "I am sure she would like to see you though Legolas," Kili immediately added. "She is in her room and would love some company if you are free at any point this evening," he stated, the blonde elf nodding before he bowed his head and moved away; disappearing into the crowd again. "She should be here uncle."

"She should but maybe she was right not to attend. There are many here who still distrust the elves, if they learnt that their prince was in a relationship with one, was going to have a child with this elf," the King explained. "They need to get used to her before they learn the truth. I think you and Tauriel need to stop hiding away in your room and start becoming a part of the community again," Thorin commented. "The company misses you Kili, no one ever sees you because you are always hiding away in your room. Can you imagine what the majority must think? Most of our kin know that you spend all your time with her Kili, you must understand that many feel like they have lost a friend to an elf."

"She is going to be my wife," Kili stated before standing. "I love her. She is going to be my wife and she is going to be the mother of my children, however many we are blessed with," the dwarf declared before shaking his head. "She is not evil or our enemy, she just wants to be accepted. She wants our baby to have a home, to feel like they belong somewhere in this world," Kili declared as Thorin sighed.

"Go and talk to our kin, they have missed you. Perhaps that might make things easier for you," Thorin ordered, the young dwarf nodding before he moved away.

KILI&TAURIEL

"Legolas," Tauriel smiled as she opened the door to find the blonde elf standing in the corridor, her arms wrapping around him tightly as he laughed gently. "I have missed you," the redhead admitted, stepping away from him before she took hold of his hand and led him into the room. Shutting the door behind them, Tauriel smiled as she moved to sit down on her bed before smiling up at her friend. "Come and sit with me, tell me everything you have been doing mellon," Tauriel declared, the blonde moving to sit beside her while his arm wrapped around her shoulders and pulled her close.

"I have just been exploring Erebor Tauriel, attempting not to insult any of the dwarves without you there to stop me from saying anything that might be seen as offensive," he shrugged, a small laugh leaving Tauriel's lips as she relaxed into his side. "It is unbelievable how much you have changed," he admitted as her eyebrows rose in confusion. How had she changed? "Pregnancy suits you," the elf smiled.

"How?" Tauriel asked quietly.

"You are almost glowing, you look so beautiful," he shrugged, Tauriel laughing as her hand moved to her abdomen again. "You are getting quite big now too," the elf commented as she shook her head.

"I'm going to get even bigger yet. This will be nothing compared to how I will look at the end I imagine," Tauriel admitted before sighing. "How was the coronation?" she asked quietly, after desperately trying not to immediately ask after Kili. She missed him. She missed his company and she was hoping that he was enjoying himself, that there separation had been worthwhile.

"Uneventful," Legolas shrugged. "Your dwarf, however, has looked miserable for most of it," the blonde explained as Tauriel groaned. "It also looks like his mother is avoiding him. They have not talked, I heard some of the dwarves discussing it," he explained, Tauriel's eyes shutting while she remained cuddled up beside her friend. She knew that his mother's behaviour was hurting Kili and she was devastated to learn that Dis was even ignoring her son while she wasn't present. "I take it things didn't go well between you and his mother."

"She was disgusted," Tauriel admitted. "She didn't even give me a chance. Kili introduced me to his mother and she was horrified," the redhead whispered as Legolas sighed, keeping her close to him as she shook her head. "I know that we were silly, thinking that everyone would be accepting, but I know Kili was really hurt by her," the elf continued before shaking her head again. "What if we are never accepted? What if they hate me forever?" Tauriel asked quietly, glancing up at her friend as Legolas smiled down at her.

"How could they possibly hate you forever? You are lovely," Legolas whispered, a small laugh leaving her lips as she stared at him. "You have charmed the heir to the throne and their King, many of the company like you," Legolas continued. "They just need to get to know you," the blonde concluded, the redhead nodding slowly before she leant up and pressed a kiss to his cheek. "I have barely seen you in days, which means that none of his kin have seen you either. You need to see it from their point of view, you arrive in Erebor and their prince wakes up but no one ever sees him or you."

"I guess we have been hiding away," Tauriel said quietly. "Kili asked me to marry me," Tauriel admitted, laughing when Legolas sat up properly and stared at her, amazement covering his face. "You can't really be shocked by that, you must have known it would happen. I am carrying his baby, we love each other, of course we were going to marry eventually," the redhead explained as Legolas nodded, smiling at her as she slowly sat up and took hold of his hand. "I am going to miss you when you return to Mirkwood," Tauriel admitted, watching their hands as Legolas remained silent. The prospect of leaving her behind, with the dwarves, saddened him. He had spent most of the last six hundred years with Tauriel, watching her grow, becoming her friend. He found it difficult to imagine not seeing every day or at least being in the same kingdom as home. "You have been there nearly every day since your father took me in," Tauriel said quietly, her fingers lacing with his as he smiled weakly.

"My little sister," Legolas whispered, his free hand moving to rest against her cheek before slowly moving to make her look at him. "No matter where you are Tauriel, you will always be my little sister," Legolas stated, tears appearing in Tauriel's eyes as she moved closer to him and wrapped her arms around him. "And I will always be there if you need me," the blonde added, pressing a kiss to her forehead as she shut her eyes and remained cuddled in his arms. "You will be happy here, won't you?" he asked quietly.

"Yes," Tauriel whispered. "Yes, I will be happy here, with Kili and our baby," the redhead smiled, his arms remaining tightly around her as she sighed. "You will visit me Legolas, no matter what your father says?" Tauriel asked quietly as her friend laughed and nodded.

"My father could never keep you from me Tauriel," Legolas responded, smiling down at his friend. "I will have to come for the wedding anyway and then I will have to come and see your baby; see whether it favours dwarf or elf," he stated as Tauriel laughed. Who would her baby look like the most? She had never thought about, thought about whether the baby would look more like her or like Kili.

KILI&TAURIEL

Smiling to himself as he moved back towards Tauriel's room later that evening, Kili sighed as he watched Bofur attempt to walk past; clearly very drunk. He had spent most of the evening with the company, laughing with them and talking to those who knew about Tauriel and the baby with pride. He was excited and it was nice to talk to Bofur and Oin about the baby to learn that they were excited about the baby as well. Laughing as Bofur moved towards his room and almost fell into the bedroom, Kili shook his head before running up the stairs and moving towards the redhead's room, knocking gently before he opened the door.

"Tauriel?" Kili asked quietly as he stepped inside, a small smile covering his face when he looked into the room to find Tauriel fast asleep while Legolas sat silently beside her. "Thank you for keeping her company tonight," the dwarf whispered as Legolas looked up at him and nodded slowly, moving silently off the bed before he approached the door.

"Thank you for making her happy," Legolas responded before walking out, the dwarf smiling to himself before he shut the door and moved towards the bed. Sitting down beside the redhead in silence, Kili slowly laid down beside her before wrapping his arms tightly around her body and pressing a kiss into her hair, his hands resting on her bump. No matter what his mother thought or any of his kin, nothing would make him regret falling in love with the elf in his arms.

**So what do you think? Love it? Hate it? **

**I decided that I didn't like the idea of Tauriel and Kili admitting everything at the coronation so I decided to write this. In the next chapter, I promise there will be more of Dis and things will start to be admitted. I also think Legolas will be leaving in the next chapter- although he hasn't really featured heavily recently, which I apologise for. **

**Anyway, please review and let me know what you think. **


	15. Chapter 15

**Thank you for your wonderful reviews- they mean so much to me and I love hearing from you. It's amazing to know that so many of you are enjoying reading this story and want more, I love writing this story and I love the characters. **

**It's a short chapter but I hope you enjoy it, I felt it was a chapter that was needed.**

Slowly opening his eyes, the dwarf sighed at the fact his sleep had been disturbed before he reached across, shock covering his face when he realised that Tauriel wasn't resting beside him. Since their return to one another, they had never woken up without one another and it was odd to find the space next to him empty; especially that early in the morning. Gently running his hand across the empty space, the dwarf noticed that it was now cold. Where was she? Why had she got out of bed so early? Sitting up in silence, Kili smiled weakly when he glanced across to see Tauriel sat on the other side of the room, a blanket wrapped around her as she whispered in elfish to her abdomen.

"Tauriel?" Kili asked, the concern obvious in his voice, as she glanced up at him and smiled weakly. "Come back to bed," the dwarf whispered, a small laugh leaving her lips at his request. "Tauriel, it is really early. Come back to bed and talk to me," he continued, sitting up properly while the redhead stared at him, her fingers running across her stomach. "If you don't come here, I will try and cuddle on that chair with you and I promise you now, it will be a squash," Kili warned, both of them laughing at the idea before the redhead stood up and moved towards the bed; holding the blanket around her body. "What's wrong my love?" he questioned when the redhead sat on the edge of the bed and sighed, a small smile decorating her face when she glanced across at him. "Tauriel," Kili whispered, moving closer to her before he snuck his arm around her and pulled her close to him; desperately trying to get her to talk. "What's upset you?" he asked into her hair, the elf shutting her eyes as she tried to think of how best to respond. She didn't know how to explain it to him. "Is it the fact that Legolas is leaving?" he suggested, knowing he was right when the redhead relaxed back against him and shut her eyes. "Do you want to talk about it?" he questioned, her head shaking as she opened her eyes and looked at him.

"Get some sleep," Tauriel said quietly, leaning across to press a kiss to his cheek before she stood up. "I'm going to go for a walk," the redhead whispered, holding the blanket around her as the dwarf continued to watch her, clearly concerned. "I just need some time to think my love, I will be back soon," she explained briefly, a small smile decorating her face as the dwarf sighed.

"Why don't I come with you?" Kili suggested, her head shaking to stop him from climbing out of bed.

"I will be back soon; there is no need for you to worry. Please try and sleep," Tauriel declared before she opened the door and walked out to be met by the dark corridor. Moving through it in silence, the redhead wrapped her arms tightly around her body as she walked down the long corridors. Reaching her final destination, Tauriel sighed as she gently knocked on the door before waiting for a response. She knew it was ridiculous, knocking on her friend's door this early in the morning but she wanted to talk to him. Hearing movement inside the room, Tauriel smiled to herself when the door opened and Legolas stared at her in confusion.

"You do know what time it is," the blonde commented as she nodded slowly, taking in his tired expression as he sighed and moved out of the doorway. "Come in then, disturber of the peace," he declared, a small laugh leaving her lips as she stepped inside and heard the door shut behind her. "What will the dwarves say if they find out that you snuck out of your fiancés room in the middle night to walk into my mine?" Legolas teased, falling silent when she didn't respond. "What's wrong?" the blonde immediately asked, concern covering his face as she turned and moved closer to him; his arms automatically wrapping around her as she buried her face into his chest. "Mellon?" he whispered, glancing down at her red hair as she remained perfectly silent. "Tauriel," Legolas sighed, keeping her close as she shook her head. "What's wrong sister?" he questioned, becoming more concerned as she stayed silent in his arms. "Is it the baby Tauriel?" he guessed, her head shaking as she stepped away and looked down at her abdomen. "Tauriel, it's not normal to wake someone up in the middle of the night," he commented, her head nodding as she sighed and moved to sit on the edge of the bed. "Do I need to get Kili?" he asked.

"No," Tauriel immediately responded. "I just…" she began, her head shaking as she brushed her hair away from her face. "It's ridiculous."

"Tell me anyway," the elf smiled, sitting beside her before he took hold of her hand and squeezed it tightly. "Mellon," he whispered.

"I don't want you to leave," Tauriel said quietly, Legolas sighing as he wrapped an arm around her shoulders and kept her close. "I told you I was being ridiculous Legolas, I know that I am being silly," the redhead whispered, glancing up at the blonde while he shook his head in response. "I'm sorry for disturbing you," Tauriel suddenly blurted out before standing up, the blonde elf watching her as she stopped and brushed her fingers through her hair again in frustration.

"Come here," Legolas sighed, moving to lie down on the bed while the redhead turned to face him. Approaching the bed in silence, Tauriel slowly laid down beside her friend and look at him; his hand taking hers again. "Someone has to go home and explain to my father that you will be staying here," he said quietly, Tauriel's eyes shutting as she moved closer to him and cuddled into his side. "And you are happy here. You are happier here than you ever have been in Mirkwood Mellon," Legolas commented, the redhead nodding as she shut her eyes. "You have a future here. You have a fiancé who loves you more than anything in this world and a baby on the way," the blonde continued.

"But my greatest friend will not be here," Tauriel responded, the blonde smiling weakly at her before he leant down and pressed a kiss to her forehead. "What if the rest of the dwarves continue to hate me? What if his mother always hates me?" Tauriel asked quietly.

"So this isn't about me but like usual is actually about the dwarves," Legolas laughed, shaking his head as he relaxed back on the bed. "Tauriel, they will love you. It just might take some of them a while longer than the rest but they will love you one day," the blonde explained as Tauriel remained silent. "And his mother…"

"Detests the whole idea of me," the redhead interrupted, keeping her eyes shut as she felt the tears begin to form. "And he's trying to be strong but Kili is hurting because of it," she whispered, feeling Legolas' arms tighten around her body as she began to clearly sob. "He's hurting because of me, because of who I am."

"Because of his mother," Legolas declared, hating that she was completely blaming herself for the tension between Kili and his family. "Tauriel, his mother will come to accept you," he said quietly, desperately trying to comfort her as she shook her head again and wiped the tears away from her face. "She just needs to get to know you better. She still sees elves like many of the company used too, she has not had the chance to change her ideas yet," he continued, his fingers moving to play with her hair as she remained silent.

"She ignored him throughout the coronation Legolas, that's more than a slight dislike for me," the redhead whispered. "I didn't go so that things wouldn't be awkward between the two of them and yet she still avoided him and I know that he's upset," she explained before moving her hand to her abdomen and sighing. "She is this child's only grandparent, what if she never accepts the baby?" she asked quietly. "Kili will be miserable if she ignores her grandchild. He has lost his father, his brother; I cannot be the reason he loses his relationship with his mother as well," Tauriel mumbled, her head shaking slowly as she sat up and glanced across the room. "I don't know what to do Legolas. I can't go anywhere else, I won't separate Kili from our baby but I don't want to be the rift between Kili and his kin," she whispered, falling silent when Legolas sat up behind her.

"You show them how kind hearted you are," Legolas said quietly. "You talk to all the dwarves, you get to know them all," the blonde whispered as she smiled weakly. "You are not this shy elf that you seem to have become since we arrived in Erebor. You want them to like you, show them how lovely you are mellon," he declared, pressing a kiss into her hair as she nodded slowly, wishing it was that easy. "And you can always write to me," he whispered, returning to the initial issue she had brought up when she had arrived. "I want to you to tell me everything about the baby. I want you to write to me and tell me that you are both completely healthy," he explained, pressing another kiss into her hair while the redhead shut her eyes.

"You are way too overprotective sometimes," Tauriel smiled, turning her head to look at the other elf as he nodded.

"Someone has to try and stop you and your reckless decisions," Legolas commented, her eyebrows rising at his description of her being reckless. She could remember how Kili had told her in Mirkwood that his mother believed him to be reckless and it made her laugh that Legolas believed her to be reckless too.

"I'm reckless?" Tauriel asked quietly.

"Yes. You're the elf that goes after orcs alone," he began, a laugh leaving her lips as she nodded slowly; remembering their discussion after he had found her. "You abandoned your home to follow your heart, you threatened your King to save the dwarf you love, you are reckless in so many ways," he listed, her head slowly nodding as she moved her hands to her abdomen again. "The dwarves are lucky to have you in their kingdom," he whispered to her. "Now, I have a long journey later today and I would like to get some sleep before I have to leave so I think it's time you returned to bed."

"You are so bossy sometimes Legolas," Tauriel laughed before climbing off the bed and glancing back at her friend. "Thank you for putting up with me for all these years Legolas," the redhead said quietly before moving towards the bed and pressing a kiss to his forehead. "Thank you for being my brother Legolas," Tauriel whispered before leaving the room, shock covering her face when she found herself looking at Kili's mother.

**I felt that a chapter between Legolas and Tauriel was desperately needed and that Tauriel had to confide in someone. The next chapter will have a lot more Dis in and we will be saying goodbye to Legolas but I thought I could get away with a small chapter with this scene in. The cliff hanger was totally unexpected but when I got to the end of the chapter I couldn't resist. I wanted to update quickly as a thank you for being so patient in regards to how long it's been taking me to update recently. **

**Please review and let me know what you think. **


	16. Chapter 16

**Thank you for all your wonderful reviews to the last chapter. I love hearing from you and they were all so lovely to read, I'm so glad that you're enjoying this story. I don't normally take this long to move through events but for some reason all my chapters end up being very long and the events are moving slowly, so I apologise if it becomes boring and feels slow. **

**This isn't my favourite chapter but I hope you enjoy it and review again, it means so much to me to know what you think. **

The knocking at the door was insane.

Opening his eyes slowly, Kili groaned as he glanced across at the door before burying his face into the pillow. It was too early for someone to be knocking for him. He just wanted to get some rest. Hearing the knocking get louder than he believed possible, the dwarf shook his head before he climbed out of the warmth of his bed and quickly grabbed a nearby cloak; wrapping it tightly around his body before approaching the door. Opening it slowly, Kili yawned as he found himself staring at a clearly panicked Bofur.

"Bofur?" Kili asked quietly, shocked that he was the one who had woken him up. Bofur wasn't the sort of dwarf to wake someone up in the early hours of the morning. He was often the last to go to bed, at least he was amongst the company, and was often found unconscious under a table. "Bofur it's so early," he moaned, running his fingers through his hair as Bofur nodded slowly. "What's the matter Bofur?" Kili questioned before glancing back at the bed, panic covering his face. How had he forgotten about her? "It's Tauriel, isn't it?" he quickly asked, looking back at his friend as the other dwarf nodded. The dwarf could remember her leaving the room even earlier that morning, clearly upset about something and he had been waiting for her to come back to bed. "What's happened?" Kili questioned, stepping out of the room before he began to follow Bofur down the corridor.

"Kili," Bofur began before falling silent, not knowing how to explain everything to the younger dwarf. "I…" he tried again, shaking his head as he sighed and glanced across at his friend. "She's not hurt," he suddenly stated, aware that he wasn't making any sense to Kili, who was still staring at him. Kili was becoming more concerned with every attempt Bofur made to explain what was going on. "Your mother," he said quietly, Kili's eyebrows rising at the sudden mention of his mother. What on earth did she have to do with Tauriel? Tauriel and Dis had nothing to do with one another. His mother had disliked Tauriel from the moment she had seen her so he couldn't understand what his mother had to do with Tauriel that early in the morning. "Your mother ordered Dwalin to arrest her," Bofur stated, the younger dwarf stopping as he took in what his friend had just told him. His mother had had Tauriel arrested? What for?

"She did what? Why?" Kili asked in shock. Arrested? Tauriel had been arrested? "Have you seen her Bofur? Is she alright?" Kili said quietly, looking across at his friend as Bofur shook his head; Kili falling silent before he began to walk towards the throne room again. He could tell that that was where the other dwarf had been leading him and he couldn't wait any longer. He had to sort out what had happened. He needed to get Tauriel out of prison and he needed to talk to his mother. He needed to talk to his mother and get her to explain why she had had his fiancé arrested for no reason. Opening the door to the throne room, the dark haired dwarf found himself staring at his mother and Dwalin; who immediately fell silent when they glanced across at him. "How dare you mother," Kili shouted, moving further into the room as his mother shook her head at him. "What on earth did you think you were doing?" he asked, glaring across at Dwalin as he stepped further forward. "Why have you arrested Tauriel?"

"For bewitching the Prince of Erebor," Dis declared, Kili laughing at her before shaking his head. "She cannot be trusted. She has lied to us all. She has made you believe that you are in love with her."

"I want you to take me to Tauriel now," Kili stated firmly. "I want you to let my fiancee go. You have no right to arrest her."

"Fiancée?" Dwalin asked in shock before shaking his head. "An elf Kili! Your mother was right, she has bewitched you," the dwarf declared. "You are the Prince of Erebor; you cannot be stupid enough to believe that she loves you. An elf! She is our enemy."

"She is not our enemy," Kili argued. "The elves fought on our side during the battle, Tauriel has saved my life more than once. I would have died in Lake Town if it wasn't for her. While you went off to Erebor, I was dying. I would never have made it to the mountain if it wasn't for her," he explained, shaking his head at the two other dwarves before glancing back at the room. "You had no right to arrest her. She has done nothing wrong and you are ridiculous to believe that she would bewitch me," the dwarf declared. "She is an elf, not a wizard. She can't bewitch me mother, Dwalin. You are fools to believe that it's even possible. Both Bofur and Oin can tell you that she didn't bewitch me. They were then when she healed me."

"Well she must have done something to make you believe that you are in love with her," Dis argued. "My son in love with an elf, it's embarrassing! You are embarrassing me, you are embarrassing your entire family with this ridiculous notion. You were brought up on the stories of what they did to us. You know what the elves did to our people. How could you possibly fall in love with one?" Dis shouted, glaring at her son as she shook her head. "Your brother would never have done anything this foolish."

"Don't you dare," Kili warned. "Don't you dare use Fili to make me feel like I'm wrong mother," the dwarf shouted. "Yes Fili wouldn't have done anything this foolish, yes Fili was never the reckless one but I didn't enter Mirkwood with the idea of falling in love. However, it happened. I fell in love with my captor, I have decided to spend the rest of my life with her and Fili knew how I felt," Kili declared. He hated that his mother had brought Fili into this. He hated that she was trying to make him feel bad by mentioning his brother. "I told him, I told him before we went into battle that I was in love with her. I told him that I wanted to spend my life with Tauriel and Fili was happy for me," Kili stated, remembering how his brother had laughed at his reckless decision before patting his shoulder and congratulating him. "He was happy for me. He liked Tauriel, he was happy for us."

"Fili wouldn't have been accepting of an elf," Dis stated.

"He was accepting of Tauriel, just like uncle has become," Kili responded. He had never argued with his mother like this before. She had always been supportive of his decisions; although there had been moments when she had been furious with him for his reckless choices. "You would like her, mother, if you got past this whole idea that elves are our enemies. She is kind and loving and she will be my wife, whether you agree or not."

"Your uncle would never allow you to marry this elf. You are his heir, you cannot marry an elf," Dwalin interrupted.

"He has given her his protection," Kili responded, aware that he was smirking at being able to argue with the older dwarf. "He likes Tauriel. He is happy for us," Kili continued, looking across at his mother as she stared at him in disbelief.

"I will never like this elf," Dis declared. "She is a liar. She has made you believe that you are in love with her and yet at night she sneaks into that other elf's room. I saw her leaving it," she explained, Kili sighing as he realised why this had happened. His mother had caught Tauriel leaving Legolas' room and had jumped to the wrong conclusion. "Your fiancee is a lying whore Kili and she will never be a part of my family," Dis declared, walking towards her son before looking at him and shaking her head. "You are an idiot to believe that this elf loves you. She wants something, I don't know what but she does and she is using you to get it," she stated before walking out of the room, Kili's head shaking when he heard the door open and close behind him.

"Kili," Dwalin said quietly.

"You have arrested someone who has done nothing wrong, my fiancee," Kili said quietly as he looked up at Dwalin. "She was upset and she went to see her friend. Tauriel is not having an affair with the Prince of Mirkwood, he is like a brother to her, and they have never seen each other like that anyway. She confides in him, she has done for practically six hundred years; marrying me isn't going to change that," Kili explained before shaking his head. "I want you to take me to my fiancee," Kili ordered.

"Kili," Dwalin began again.

"As your Prince and nephew to your King, I demand that you take me to my fiancee," he declared, desperately trying to sound like he was in control, before the older dwarf nodded slowly. He couldn't refuse the order of the Prince of Erebor, however much he disliked Kili's decision. Opening the door, Dwalin remained silent as he walked down the nearby stairs; Kili following in silence as they moved deeper and deeper into the mountain. Approaching the prison cells in silence, Kili quickly moved past the older dwarf before he reached the only occupied cell. "Tauriel," Kili called out, smiling weakly when the redhead turned to look at him, a small smile decorating her face as she approached the bars. "Oh Tauriel," he whispered, his hand moving through the bars to brush against her cheek while she shut her eyes. "You shouldn't be in here. I'm going to get you out of here, this is stupid," the dwarf continued, his fingers brushing through her hair as she remained perfectly silent. "My mother is being ridiculous."

"Your mother doesn't trust me and I haven't exactly come across as honest to her. She was just doing what she believed right," Tauriel whispered. "She caught me leaving Legolas' room," she explained, the dwarf nodding as she shook her head. "I promise that I wasn't doing anything with him," the redhead said quickly, opening her eyes to stare at him as he nodded. "I just went to see him, I needed to talk to him about something and I had to do it then because I couldn't sleep," she explained, clearly upset as Kili smiled weakly and cupped her cheek.

"I know. I believe you," Kili whispered. "I know that you are not sleeping with Legolas, I have seen the two of you together. You are siblings, I told Dwalin that," the dwarf explained, falling silent when tears began to run down her cheeks. "Hey, what's wrong? Why are you crying? Tauriel, talk to me," he asked, the concern obvious in his voice as Tauriel shook her head and stepped away from him; now out of arms reach. "Dwalin, open this door," Kili called out, glancing across at the other dwarf as Dwalin shook his head. "She has done nothing wrong. This whole thing is ridiculous, now open the door," Kili ordered, looking back to see Tauriel sat in the corner; brushing the tears violently away from her face. "She is not a criminal. There is no reason for her to be arrested, to be put in a prison cell."

"I am under the orders of your mother Kili and unless the King orders otherwise," Dwalin began.

"Then go and find my Uncle and bring him here," Kili declared, noticing that the other dwarf was considering the idea. "Please, just go and get Thorin. We can sort this whole thing out then," Kili said quietly, finding himself to be almost begging as Dwalin sighed and nodded slowly before moving towards the stairs and disappearing from sight. "Tauriel," Kili called out, looking into the dark cell to see that she was still sat in the corner, as far from him as she possibly could. "Come here, please," the dwarf begged, becoming more concerned about her as she shook her head. "Tell me what's wrong," he found himself saying, desperately trying to get her to talk to him about something.

"I am destroying your family," Tauriel whispered.

"What makes you think that?" Kili asked in shock. "You are not destroying anything, if anything you are adding to it. You are going to be my wife; you are the mother of the next in the line of Durin. You are not destroying anything my love," the dwarf insisted, desperately trying to make her understand. Why did she believe that she was destroying his family? "This is about my mother, isn't it?" he sighed.

"Of course it's about your mother Kili, who else would it be about? I know how much you love your mother; I know how close you were before you left on your quest and I have destroyed that. Your mother hates me, I know that she avoided you for the entire coronation because of me and she has now had me arrested. She is never going to accept our baby," Tauriel declared, shaking her head as she slowly moved her hand to her abdomen. "Maybe it would be better if I did return to Mirkwood with Legolas," Tauriel said quietly, hating herself immediately for suggesting it.

"You are not going back to Mirkwood without me," Kili responded. "Nothing is taking you away from me again Tauriel. The two of us are going to raise our child together, as husband and wife, and I don't care what anyone thinks. If we have to leave Erebor to do that, then we will, I will tell them that I renounce the title of heir Tauriel but I will not be separated from you," the dwarf explained, smiling weakly when Tauriel slowly moved towards him and knelt down in front of him. "If the dwarves of Erebor do not wish to lose their prince, then they will have to get used to you," he declared, leaning forward to gently press a kiss to her forehead. "It is not easy kissing you through these bars," the dwarf commented.

"I don't think prison cells were invented with the idea that the captor would be in love with the prisoner Kili," Tauriel said quietly, smiling weakly when the dwarf sighed.

"I am not your captor and you are not my prisoner," Kili whispered, his fingers brushing gently across her cheek as she sighed.

"I'm sorry that I have made things difficult between you and your mother Kili," the redhead whispered, leaning up to brush her fingers across his cheek as he shrugged. "I'm sorry, I'm so sorry for what I've done to your family Kili," she said quietly, tears running down her cheek as he shook his head and brushed them away gently with his fingers. "I know you wanted everything to be perfect. For her to fall in love with the idea of me and the baby," she whispered, the dwarf smiling weakly before he realised that he hadn't even asked about the baby. He was an idiot! Tauriel was pregnant and they had thrown her into prison.

"You are both alright? You weren't hurt when you were brought here?" he asked quickly, aware that Dwalin was strong and disliked the elves as much as his mother did and probably wouldn't have noticed if he had been rough with her.

"No, we are both fine my love," Tauriel whispered, leaning up to gently brush her lips against his. "I'm just tired now and want to go to bed," the redhead admitted, her hand gently moving across her abdomen as Kili fell silent and quickly removed his cloak before holding it out to her. "What's this for?" she asked quietly, staring at the material he was holding towards her.

"Use it as a pillow, try and sleep for a while," Kili suggested, the redhead smiling weakly as she took the cloak from him before bundling it up and lying down; resting her head against the cloak while he watched in silence. "When uncle arrives, I will get you out of here my love," he whispered, sitting down on the floor by the bars while Tauriel remained silent; the dwarf sighing as he turned to look at her. She was already fast asleep, on the floor of the prison cell, with her head resting on his cloak. This wasn't where she was supposed to be. She was supposed to be enjoying her pregnancy, relaxing in their bed and feeling at home in Erebor. Instead, she had been locked away in a prison cell for no real reason and forced to sleep on the floor with only a cloak as a pillow. "I'm so sorry," Kili said quietly, aware that he was talking to himself now. Hearing a door open in the distance and footsteps on the stairs, Kili quickly stood up before approaching the staircase; smiling to himself when his mother, Dwalin and Thorin all walked down the stairs. "She's asleep at the moment Uncle," Kili said quietly, only looking at his uncle, who nodded and smiled at him.

"Give Kili the keys Dwalin, this whole situation is ridiculous," Thorin ordered, glancing across at Dwalin as he passed the keys to the younger dwarf. Grabbing them from the older dwarf, Kili quickly moved towards the prison cell before unlocking it and kneeling beside the redhead; his fingers gently brushing across Tauriel's cheek as she groaned.

"Tauriel, wake up," Kili whispered, leaning down to gently press a kiss to Tauriel's forehead before the redhead began to move. "Uncle is here," Kili explained, her eyes opening to look up at him as he smiled down at her. "Come on, let's get you out of his prison my love," the dwarf declared, standing slowly as the redhead nodded and stood up, her fingers running through her hair while she followed him out of the cell to see the three other dwarves staring at her.

"I am so sorry for all of this," Thorin declared, stepping forward as the redhead smiled weakly and shook her head. "How are you Tauriel?" the dwarf asked quietly, glancing down at her abdomen briefly before looking up at her again.

"Fine, I'm fine. Thank you for letting me out," the redhead whispered as Kili gently rested his hand on the small of her back.

"It doesn't matter whether she's fine or not, she shouldn't have been arrested in the first place," Kili argued, his voice full of anger and hatred as he glared across at his mother and Dwalin. "She should be treated with respect as my future wife," Kili declared, moving to find Tauriel's hand before he laced his fingers with hers and smiled up at her; aware that his mother had groaned in frustration at his statement.

"I understand that Kili and it won't happen again, I am so sorry Tauriel for my sister's mistake," Thorin stated before turning to face Dis and Dwalin. "Tauriel has my protection and I have given my permission for them to marry, how dare you arrest her," Thorin declared, everyone noticing the horrified expression that covered Dwalin and Dis' face at the news.

"An elf," Dis said in shock, unable to believe that her brother had allowed this. "You are allowing my son to marry this thing," Dis shouted, pointing across at the redhead, who was standing silently next to Kili. "No one will accept her as Kili's wife," Dis declared before shaking her head at the news. "Has she bewitched you too Thorin? Has she made you think that she is this wonderful person who is not after anything but to be my son's wife?" the dwarf questioned, glaring across at her brother before staring up at Dwalin. "Will you accept an elf as the wife of your future King?" Dis asked Dwalin.

"I…" he began before falling silent.

"She is our enemy," Dis stated. "I will never accept her as the wife of my son."

"She is not our enemy Dis. You need to stop this hatred," Thorin groaned, clearly becoming frustrated with his sister. "We are now allied with Mirkwood, they are not our enemies. Yes, I dislike Thranduil but Tauriel is not her King. Tauriel is her own person, she defied Thranduil's orders to save Kili's life and I will always be grateful to her for that," he stated, glancing across at the redhead, who smiled weakly at him. "Why don't you go to bed Tauriel? You need to rest," the dwarf suggested, the redhead glancing across at Kili, who nodded slowly at the suggestion.

"You're tired, I won't be too long my love. Go and get some sleep," Kili whispered, Tauriel squeezing his hand gently before she let go and moved towards Thorin.

"Thank you, for everything," Tauriel smiled gently, shocking Dis and Dwalin when she leant down and gently pressed a kiss to Thorin's cheek before disappearing up the stairs.

"You are really going to marry this elf?" Dwalin asked quietly, looking across at the youngest dwarf as Kili nodded slowly. This wasn't going to change anything.

"You wouldn't hate her if you got to know her. She is kind and loving and she makes me happy," Kili explained before looking at his mother. "I know she's not the wife any of you expected me to have but she is the wife I have chosen. I want to spend my life with her and nothing you say will make me change my mind," he declared, refusing to allow his mother to leave the room believing that she could change his mind. "And she is not a whore," he added, remembering the bitter statement his mother had said earlier. "She is not sleeping with Prince Legolas."

"Prince Legolas," Thorin laughed before looking around at his sister. "You thought she was sleeping with Prince Legolas?" the King smiled as Kili nodded slowly, smiling at his uncle's reaction. "Tauriel is a clever girl; she's not going to do anything stupid like that and she loves Kili. Anyone can see that if they weren't so blinded by this ridiculous hatred," Thorin declared before moving towards the stairs. "Now, it's early in the morning, I'm tired and I have a busy day ahead of me so I'm going back to bed. I don't want to hear any more about this until much later when you have hopefully dealt with your stupidity," Thorin stated before disappearing up the stairs. Glancing across at his mother, Kili smiled weakly before he approached the stairs.

"Good night mother, Dwalin," Kili said quietly, not wanting to carry on the conversation as he moved up the stairs. Walking through the various dark corridors back towards his bedroom, Kili ran his fingers through his hair as he shook his head. The whole situation was ridiculous, being woken up in the early hours of the morning to deal with the fact that his mother had had his fiancee arrested for bewitching him and for having an affair with the Prince of Mirkwood. Opening his bedroom door, the dwarf sighed as he stepped inside to see Tauriel curled up in their bed, fast asleep. She always looked so peaceful when she was asleep; even after everything that had happened. Moving towards her, Kili smiled as he sat down in the space beside her and reached across to brush his fingers across her abdomen. "No one is ever going to destroy this," Kili said quietly, aware that the redhead was too far gone to be woken up by anything he said. "You, me and our baby," he whispered, lying down before he gently pressed a kiss to her forehead and kept his hand on her bump.

**I promise to start moving through the events quicker, it's ridiculous how slow I'm writing these events. Anyway, please review and let me know your thoughts. I don't know why I decided to have Dis arrest Tauriel but I don't think she's the sort of person who would have just let it go if she had caught her son's fiancee leaving another man's review. Anyway, you might love it or hate it- just let me know your thoughts. **


	17. Chapter 17

**Hello again! So here's the next chapter and thank you for the amazing response to the previous ones, you are the greatest people and this is seriously an amazing fandom to a part of. **

**To those asking about my return to the world of Mr Selfridge, I am currently working on a chapter now but it's taking a while because I'm still grieving the fact that my favourite couple has been destroyed this series. However, I will be back soon. **

She could hear them whispering about her as she walked past them. Her name would suddenly be said in the middle of a sentence or she would hear them refer to her as 'the elf' before sniggering and glancing around at her. Biting into her lip for a second, Tauriel sighed before forcing herself to smile and carry on walking through the corridor. Clearly the events of the previous evening had been found out by more than the people involved. She was stupid for expecting anything different, for believing that it would remain an embarrassing secret. Approaching the staircase down towards the main entrance to the kingdom, Tauriel smiled weakly at the sight of the small crowd that had gathered to say goodbye to her friend. Wrapping the cloak tighter around her body, the redhead sighed as she glanced down towards the sign of her pregnancy; desperately wishing that she didn't have to keep hiding it. Moving towards the small gathering, Tauriel smiled across at Kili and Thorin before realising that the only other people who had gathered were Bofur and Oin.

"I was beginning to think you weren't coming," Legolas laughed, the redhead shaking her head as she approached him nervously. She didn't want people to believe that the rumours were true; that she was having an affair with Legolas while saying that she was in love with their prince. "Come with me for a moment," the blonde smiled, holding his hand out towards her as she glanced back at Kili and Thorin; who both nodded at her, clearly aware that she was nervous. "Tauriel," Legolas said quietly, the redhead slowly taking hold of his hand before he led her away the dwarves slightly. "I heard what happened," the blonde said quietly.

"Who hasn't heard what happened?" Tauriel muttered, shaking her head as Legolas squeezed her hand and smiled at her. "I nearly didn't come," she finally admitted, glancing down at the floor while the other elf remained silent. She had spent ages, pacing up and down her room, debating whether to actually say goodbye to her friend. She hadn't wanted to make things worse but she hadn't also wanted to miss saying goodbye to her friend, missing the last opportunity to see him for what could be months! "I'm going to miss you Mellon," Tauriel whispered, the blonde nodding as she moved closer to him and wrapped her arms tightly around him; burying her face into his shoulder as she felt herself start to sob.

"Whenever I am near here, I will visit you," Legolas said quietly, glancing across to see the dwarves watching them; clearly concerned. "You've just got to stay strong. I know that some of the dwarves aren't making it easy for you but over there are four dwarves who care about you," the blonde explained, pressing a kiss into her hair as she bit into her lip; desperately trying to stop herself from crying. It was ridiculous; she had no reason to cry. "I know that his mother isn't making things easy for you but Kili adores you and Thorin clearly cares about you. You have their King on your side, the others will follow eventually," Legolas declared, slowly moving away from the redhead before smiling at her tearstained face. "You need to start embracing this pregnancy too," Legolas said quietly, noticing the cloak that was covering her body. "This is an amazing thing Tauriel, which does not happen very often. I don't want you to look back one day to regret not enjoying your pregnancy," he explained, the redhead smiling weakly as she nodded slowly; watching as Legolas looked down at her abdomen. "You be good for your mother, little one. You don't realise how lucky you are," the elf whispered, Tauriel laughing as she shook her head at him.

"You are ridiculous sometimes," Tauriel smiled before wrapping her arms around Legolas' neck. "I'm going to miss you," Tauriel whispered again, the blonde wrapping his arms around her to keep her close for a moment. "Tell your father that I'm sorry," she said quietly, remembering that Thranduil was expecting her to return to Mirkwood with his son. "That I am grateful for everything he has done for me since he took me in as an elfling," she continued, moving away from the blonde slightly before nodding. "And please don't tell him about the baby. Tell him about Kili, tell him that I'm going to be married to the person that I love but please don't mention the baby to him. I don't know how he would react to the idea," the redhead begged before gently pressing a kiss to Legolas' cheek and stepping away. Moving back towards the group, Tauriel smiled as Legolas approached his horse and nodded towards the dwarves. They had clearly said their goodbyes before she had arrived. Standing beside Kili while the elf mounted the horse, Tauriel felt the dwarf's hand rest on the small of her back as she waved at her friend; unable to stop the tears that were running down her cheek when Legolas rode away towards Dale.

"Would you be happier with him Tauriel?" Kili suddenly asked, gaining the redhead's attention as she glanced down at him and shook her head; brushing the tears away from her face. She knew that she was going to miss Legolas, miss the friendship they had shared by spending every day together since his father had taken her in but she couldn't leave Kili. She had been distraught in Mirkwood without the dwarf and she couldn't imagine her life without him by her side. Legolas might be her friend and brother but Kili was her lover, her future husband and the father of her baby.

"Tauriel, would you join me for lunch today?" Thorin asked quietly, confusion covering Tauriel's face before she nodded slowly. "And you Kili but I don't need to ask you," he added, a laugh leaving the couple's lips before they followed him into the mountain again. Feeling Kili's fingers entwine with hers, Tauriel slowly walked through the various corridors before entering Thorin's private suite; a nervous smile decorating her face as she glanced around. "A quiet family lunch, I think," Thorin smiled, moving a chair out before looking up at the elf. "Please sit, relax and remove that ridiculous cloak. You are going to boil in that," the dwarf declared before moving to his own seat; glancing across when Tauriel slowly removed the cloak and ran her hand across the clear bump. "I wanted to talk to you both about what you plan to do," Thorin stated when his two guests had sat down.

"Plan to do?" Kili asked quietly.

"About your engagement, about your marriage, about the baby," Thorin listed, Kili blushing at how obvious the answer was. "About the fact that you're marrying an elf," he added, the redhead looking up in response. "I have heard what they have been saying about you this morning Tauriel and I am very sorry for how my kin have been behaving towards you recently," Thorin explained, noticing that Kili had taken hold of Tauriel's hand again. "Especially my sister's behaviour," he added.

"It's fine," Tauriel responded, aware that both Thorin and Kili could tell that she was lying. "Many of them have a very good reason to hate my people. Thranduil abandoned you when you were in need and he was wrong to do so," the elf explained, remembering the stories she had heard about her King turning away from the homeless dwarves. "What do you think we should tell everyone?" she asked quietly, looking at the Thorin as he sighed; the room falling silent when a redhead dwarf walked in with their meals.

"Thank you Bombur," Thorin declared, the redhead nodding as he placed the last plate down on the table and glared across at Tauriel before disappearing out of the room again. "I think you should tell them about the engagement. It will make it clear to everyone why you are here and how serious the two of you are," he explained, Kili beaming as he squeezed her hand and nodded slowly; looking up at his fiancee while she bit into her lip.

"If we are going to tell them, then I want to do it properly," Kili stated, earning Tauriel's attention as she glanced across at him. "We haven't done anything properly in this relationship. I should have courted you and I never did, I haven't treated you in the way you deserve," he explained, her head shaking as she squeezed his hand. She knew that Kili wished he had courted her properly rather than waking up from his coma to find out that the elf he had made love too once was pregnant. "I want us to do this part properly, I want to announce that we're getting married in front of my kin with a celebration," the dwarf stated, shock covering her face at the idea. Kili wanted to have a party? Kili wanted to have a party when most of the kingdom hated her.

"You want to have a party?" she asked quietly. "You want to have a party when most of your kin hate me. You want everyone to sit and pretend to celebrate our engagement when they would all prefer it if I left Erebor right now and never came back," Tauriel exclaimed before shaking her head and taking her hand from his. "I love you Kili but that is the most stupid idea you have ever had and you've had some real idiotic ones before," she muttered before looking across at Thorin, sighing when she took in his facial expression. "You agree with him, don't you?" she asked quietly.

"Yes," Thorin agreed. "I think they need to see you embracing our culture and the best way to do that is to announce your engagement to one another in the way they're used too," he explained, Tauriel's head shaking again before she sighed. "And also filling them up with alcohol and food isn't a bad way to get their support," Thorin added, a small laugh leaving Kili's lips as Tauriel turned to face her fiancé again. "Now the baby," he stated. "I mean no offense by this, but you are getting to the size where you can't keep hiding your pregnancy underneath a cloak anymore. You were lucky last night that it was so poorly lit and my sister was so angry that she didn't notice."

"I want to tell my mother first," Kili admitted. "She deserves, even after how she's been behaving, to know before everyone else," the dwarf explained, a sad smile covering his face as Tauriel reached across and took his hand again; bringing it to her lips to gently kiss his knuckles. "I know that she has behaved appallingly towards you but she's still my mother, I should be the one to tell her," he stated, Tauriel nodding slowly. "I'll tell her tonight. She already knows we're getting married after last night," he explained, looking across at his uncle as he nodded in agreement. "She might see things differently when she knows that she'll be a grandmother."

"I doubt it," Tauriel whispered. "I'm sorry Kili, I know she's your mother, but she hates me, I don't think that'll ever change," the redhead stated before glancing across at Thorin and sighing. She had to give in. She had to do something that would at least show her to be trying to make some sort of effort. "I want you to go ahead with the party," Tauriel said quietly, desperately trying to make Kili happy. "I want you to organise this engagement party," the elf declared, smiling weakly when he squeezed her hand. If he was going to talk to his mother about her future grandchild, then she could do this for him. She could let him announce their engagement in the way that he wanted. "When do you want to have this party of yours?" she asked.

KILI&TAURIEL

"I could come with you," Tauriel said quietly, sitting on the bed as she watched Kili stand in front of the mirror and brush his fingers through his hair. "You will never get your hair to calm down my love, you're always going to be scruffy. My scruffy dwarf," the redhead laughed, climbing off the bed as her hand moved to her abdomen before she leant down and pressed a kiss to his forehead. "Relax," she whispered, brushing her fingers through his hair as he smiled weakly. "Your mother loves you," she said quietly, resting her forehead against his before she moved her fingers across his cheek. "I love you," the elf declared before kissing him gently; laughing when his hand moved to rest against her abdomen. "We both love you," the redhead said again.

"Wish me luck," Kili muttered, brushing his fingers across her abdomen again before leaning up and kissing her again. "Get some sleep," Kili ordered, a laugh leaving her lips as she nodded and stepped away from him; quickly sitting down on the edge of the bed as the dwarf moved towards the door. Walking out of the bedroom, Kili silently moved through the corridor towards his mother's rooms; feeling his nerves grow. He had never been nervous to visit his mother, even when he and Fili had done something that they knew would frustrate or annoy her. Approaching the door, the dwarf gently knocked against the wood before glancing down at his feet; listening to the sound of his mother's footsteps inside the room. Hearing the door unlock, Kili suddenly looked up as it opened and his mother appeared; immediately glaring at him. "Can I talk to you mother?" he asked quietly, his mother slowly stepping away from the door to let him into the room. Walking in slowly, Kili glanced around as the door shut; a sad smile decorating his face when he took in the various objects that had decorated their home in the Blue Mountains.

"What do you want to talk about?" Dis asked quietly, sitting down at her table before shaking her head. "If it is about that elf," she began.

"Yes, it's about Tauriel. It's about the two of us," Kili stated, turning to face his mother as the female dwarf shook her head in frustration. "Mother, I have something that I need to tell you," he declared, glancing down at his feet as he tried to think about the best way to tell her that she was going to be a grandmother. He was proud that he was going to be a father, that he was going to have this child with the woman he loved but he was terrified about telling his mother. He didn't know how she was going to react to the news. "It's something important," he said quietly, moving to sit down opposite her as she shook her head.

"I don't want to hear any more about this elf," Dis declared before standing and moving towards the door. "I am disgusted that you would even think about marrying an elf, let alone agree to it," she stated, her head shaking as she turned to face her son. "You were always different to everyone else but I never imagined that you would do something this ridiculous," she stated, shaking her head at the young dwarf as he groaned in frustration. "I should have known you would have done something stupid like this," Dis declared, shaking her head at him before she opened the door. "I don't want to discuss your elf Kili. It is bad enough that she is living in this mountain; I don't want to have to hear about her in my own rooms. I want nothing to do with her," Dis stated.

"You're my mother," Kili said quietly. "You're supposed to be supportive of my decisions."

"And you're supposed to marry one of your kin, not our enemy," Dis declared, shaking her head at him as Kili stood up and moved towards her. "I have never been more disappointed in you Kili," she hissed, her son glancing down at his feet as he shut his eyes for a moment. He needed to tell her. He needed to tell her about the baby Tauriel was carrying. If his mother knew, then they could tell the others and Tauriel could stop hiding her bump. He wanted her to enjoy her pregnancy instead of being forced to hide away. She had been forced to hide her pregnancy for her safety in Mirkwood and she should be able to embrace it now that she was with him in Erebor. "Are you going to leave?" Dis interrupted, standing by the open door as Kili shook his head.

"No," Kili responded firmly, desperately trying to remain strong. He had to fight for his relationship. Tauriel had fought Thranduil in order to protect him during the battle and he should be able to stand up to his mother. "Mother, sit down," the dwarf declared, noticing the shocked expression that covered her face at his sudden order. Moving away from the door in silence, Dis slowly sat down in the chair she had been occupying before Kili shut the door and breathed out, turning to face her slowly after a few seconds. "I love Tauriel and she loves me. We don't care that we're different, she doesn't care that I'm shorter and am bloody hairy and I don't care that she's tall and has pointy ears. I love her ears, I love that she's tall, I love everything that makes her different," Kili declared, shaking his head when his mother opened her mouth to speak. "I am not marrying her because she has bewitched me or because I feel like I have to give her something for saving my life. I am marrying her because when I was stabbed and nearly died, I couldn't take my eyes off of her and my only regret was that I wouldn't get to spend my life with her," Kili stated, remembering the tears that had run down Tauriel's cheeks as they had watched each other across the battlefield; the sword stabbed into his chest and slowly killing him. "Mother, you can hate me for the rest of my life, you can think of me as a disappointment but I will not give her up and if you want, then you don't have to have anything to do with me."

"You are going to be King one day," Dis muttered.

"And she will be my Queen, and she will be loved because she is kind and brave," Kili responded, smiling weakly at the idea. "And our children will be my heirs, the future Kings or Queens of Erebor" Kili stated. "Uncle has accepted that, he has accepted that the line of Durin will be both dwarf and elf," he declared before moving to sit down opposite his mother. "Mother, I had to talk to you tonight because I didn't want you to hear the news from anyone else," Kili said quietly, aware that his mother was still glaring at him from her seat in silence. "Mother," the dark haired dwarf sighed as he looked up. "Tauriel is going to have a baby, I'm going to be a father."

**I don't know why I decided to leave it on a cliff hanger- probably because I'm a horrible person and wanted to update. Also the chapter was getting quite long so I decided to split it. Hopefully, if enough people have read this chapter and reviewed I might be able to write the next part tonight and get it uploaded, but I make no promises and I do want to give everyone the time to read it. **

**Please review and let me know what you think. How do you think Dis is going to react to the news? **


	18. Chapter 18

**You guys are seriously amazing. Your responses have all been so lovely and it has been fantastic to read all your kind reviews and to know that you are enjoying this story. I can't believe how many reviews I received in such a short amount of time and I am amazed by how much you're enjoying my story. **

**As promised, here is the next chapter because I couldn't leave you wonderful people with a cliff hanger for long. I hope you enjoy and please review, let me know what you think! **

_"Mother," the dark haired dwarf sighed as he looked up. "Tauriel is going to have a baby, I'm going to be a father." _

He was met with complete silence.

Staring at his mother as she remained deadly still in her seat, the young dwarf slowly stood up as the realisation hit him. He had actually told her. He had told his mother that he was going to be a father, that Tauriel was carrying his child. Kili desperately wanted to see his mother smile, to see her excited about the prospect of becoming a grandmother in a few months when their baby arrived. He could, however, feel all his hopes of his mother being excited smashing into pieces as he watched her sit in her chair, deadly silent. His own mother looked completely disgusted as she continued to sit silently in her chair, not even looking at him.

"You're going to be a grandmother; don't you have anything to say?" Kili asked quietly, watching her as she remained still. "She's six months pregnant," he continued, waiting for her to respond to him. "They're both healthy," he smiled proudly, noticing that his mother seemed to look more furious as he explained about the baby. "I'm excited. I'm going to be a father," the dwarf declared, falling silent when his mother stood up and moved towards the door; opening it before she turned to face him.

"Leave," Dis ordered, shock covering the young dwarf's face as she stared at him. "That thing will never be my grandchild," she stated, shaking her head at him. "It's disgusting," she declared, furious at the prospect of her first grandchild being the child of both dwarf and elf. "Whatever is growing inside that elf is wrong, is disgusting. I can't believe you'd even acknowledge it as your baby because that is not a child," Dis stated, standing by the door as Kili remained silent. "It's an abomination," she shouted at him, completely furious as her son stood perfectly still. She couldn't really be saying this about her grandchild. She couldn't really be that disgusted at the idea. This was his child, a tiny baby. How could she possibly see this tiny little baby as an abomination? Their baby was something to be disgusted by?

"That abomination is my child," Kili responded, shaking his head as he moved towards his mother. "I never thought you could be so cruel. You brought me up to believe that family was everything and this is my family, your family," he declared.

"That thing is not a part of my family," Dis stated. "I will never accept that elf and her spawn as a part of my family," she declared, her disgust completely obvious as Kili bit into his lip. "It seems my family ended with the death of my son," she stated, tears appearing in Kili's eyes as he approached the door. So his mother didn't see him as her son anymore? Walking out of the room in silence, Kili shut his eyes when the door slammed shut behind him before tears ran down his cheeks; his fingers moving to his cheeks to brush them away. His mother didn't want to acknowledge him anymore and saw his tiny innocent baby as an abomination. Breathing out slowly as he attempted to calm himself down, the dwarf sighed before he moved through the corridor towards his bedroom. Opening the door to his room, Kili stared into the room to see that the bed was empty.

"Tauriel," Kili called out, confused at why she wasn't in bed. She was supposed to be resting. Shutting the door behind him, he quickly looked around the door before smiling across at the slightly open bathroom door. Approaching the bathroom slowly, Kili sighed as he gently knocked on the door and stepped inside; his smile growing at what he found himself looking at her. She was lying in the bath, her red hair damp and clinging around her figure as she rested her hands on her obvious bump. Tauriel was the most beautiful woman in the world to him. She always would be, even if the rest of the kin hated her for being an elf. He didn't care that she was an elf, he never would. "Hello beautiful," Kili said quietly when the redhead looked up at him and beamed; sitting up slowly when she noticed the tears that were running down his cheeks.

"Kili, what happened?" the redhead asked, clearly concerned as he shook his head. "Come here," she whispered, holding her hand out towards him as he sighed and moved towards her; his fingers quickly lacing with hers. "What happened?" she questioned again, taking in his tear stained face and the forced smile he was doing as he clung onto her hand. "Why don't you come and join me?" the redhead asked quietly, glancing down at the water as surprise covered his face.

"In the bath?" he questioned in amazement.

"In the bath," Tauriel responded, a small smirk appearing on her face as Kili slowly began to remove his clothes. Watching him as he removed his tunic, Tauriel felt herself staring at the large scar that now decorated his torso; her smile disappearing at the memory of Bolg stabbing the dwarf and the life leaving him in front of her while she did nothing to save him. Remaining silent as Kili removed the rest of his clothes, Tauriel sighed as she moved to allow him to sit behind her in the bath before she rested back against his chest; his face burying into her hair. "You weren't gone long," Tauriel commented, not knowing how best to start the conversation about his time with his mother. She knew it hadn't gone well. She could tell from the tears that had been running down his cheeks and the way he was acting. Kili was never quiet, like this. He was always expressing his opinions, always talking about something even if it was irrelevant. It worried her that he was so quiet. "Tell me what happened," Tauriel whispered, smiling weakly when his hand moved to rest against her abdomen.

"Let's talk about something else," Kili muttered into her hair, the elf groaning in frustration as she sat up and turned her head to look at him.

"No, let's talk about what happened between you and your mother Kili," Tauriel responded, not surprised when he groaned and shut his eyes. "You can't keep it from me Kili," she stated, moving her hand to rest above his before she relaxed back against his chest again. "I know she has upset you my love," she whispered, lacing her fingers with his as he remained silent. Glancing down at his fiancee, Kili sighed before he pressed a kiss into her red hair and shook his head. How could he tell her what his mother had said? How could he let the woman he loved know that his mother saw their child as an abomination, as something unnatural?

"I can't wait to make you my wife Tauriel," Kili whispered to her. "I want to wake up every morning with you by my side, I want to call you my wife in front of everyone and I want to fall asleep beside you until the day I die," Kili declared, pressing a kiss into her hair as she shut her eyes. "No one will ever stop me loving you," Kili said firmly, squeezing her hand as she remained silent. "No one will ever be able to stop me feeling the way I do about you," the dwarf declared, aware that tears were appearing in his eyes again.

"I don't doubt that," Tauriel smiled, opening her eyes slowly to look up at him. "What did she say to upset you?" she asked quietly, watching him as he sighed. "It wasn't about me was it?" she sighed, sitting up slowly before moving to sit on the other side of the bath; staring at the dwarf as he stared at her. "You're trying not to upset me because she said something about the baby," she whispered, realising why he was being so secretive. "Tell me," Tauriel insisted, her hand moving to her abdomen as the dwarf shook his head and climbed out of the bath; grabbing a nearby towel before wrapping it around his body and walking out of the room. "Kili," the redhead called out in frustration, shaking her head before she climbed out of the warm water and wrapped the other towel around her body; sighing as she followed him into their bedroom. "You can't keep it from me forever."

"Tauriel, I don't want to talk about it," Kili declared, drying his body before he grabbed his clothes and quickly dressed. "Look, my mother knows now, we can tell everyone else about the baby," he stated, climbing into the bed while she stood in the doorway; the towel wrapped around her body. "We don't have to keep anymore secrets."

"But you're keeping secrets from me," Tauriel responded, the dwarf sighing as she moved towards the bed. "You want us to be honest and not have secrets from anyone and yet you're hiding things from me. Why won't you just tell me the truth?" the redhead asked, slowly drying her body before reaching across for her night dress; pulling it on while Kili watched. "Stop trying to protect me and just be honest," she begged before sitting down beside him. "Tell me what your mother said," Tauriel begged, lying down beside him as he remained silent; glancing down at her as she slowly nudged his tunic up and traced her fingers across his scar. "I don't want there to be secrets between us. We have nearly lost one another once, we shouldn't waste the time we have together lying to each other and keeping secrets," she said quietly, staring at the violent mark to his skin. "I don't care what your mother thinks. She means nothing to me, all I care about is you and our baby," Tauriel declared, leaning across to press a kiss to his scar while he smiled weakly.

"Well, my mother is no longer a part of our family Tauriel," Kili said honestly, his eyes shutting as the redhead glanced up at him. "She clearly wants nothing to do with me or my family so I'm not going to let her ruin the life we're creating together anymore," he declared, desperately trying not to cry as Tauriel moved closer to him; cuddling into his side in silence.

"She loves you Kili," Tauriel whispered, remembering the young dwarf who had sat in a prison cell discussing the promise he had made to the mother who was waiting for him to return. "Nothing will change that."

"She no longer acknowledges me as her son," Kili finally admitted, groaning when the tears began to run down his cheeks again. Sitting up in shock at the dwarf's statement, Tauriel slowly brushed the tears away from his cheeks before pressing a kiss to his forehead. Dis had done that? How could she have done that to Kili? Tauriel couldn't understand how a woman, who had lost one son so tragically, could so easily ignore her sole surviving child. "She says her family died with Fili," the dwarf sobbed, shaking his head as Tauriel wrapped her arms around him and kept him close; his head resting against her chest as she relaxed back against the pillows. "I knew it would be a shock to learn that she was going to be a grandmother, but I never expected her reaction," he admitted as Tauriel slowly ran her fingers through his hair. "I was an idiot."

"No you weren't," Tauriel whispered before pressing a kiss into his dark curls. "You just try to believe the best in everyone," she declared, smiling when he finally looked up at her. "I know it's not how you wanted it to be. I know you wanted your mother to be happy and to want to be a part of our child's life, I wish it could be like that too but I am happy Kili," Tauriel admitted, lacing her fingers with his as he shook his head.

"I know you're not though. It is no better here for you than it was in Mirkwood. You still have to hide your pregnancy and you're still not safe. My people have been whispering about you, saying such disgusting things and you have to be so strong. You can't even relax here and I'm pretty certain that you don't feel at home," Kili declared, hating how messed up everything was just because she was an elf. "I wish we could just leave. I wish we could just get married and create our own home somewhere where we would be accepted and raise a family without all this," Kili stated before shaking his head and sitting up. "What are we going to do when the baby arrives? Hide our child away from everyone because they can't accept that we love one another and have created a life together?" Kili asked, falling silent when the redhead moved to sit up behind him. "Maybe we should just leave Erebor."

"You're the Prince, you can't just leave. You are your Uncle's heir Kili, he needs you here," Tauriel responded before pressing a kiss into his hair. "They will get used to the idea, they just need time," the redhead whispered, desperately hoping that she was right. She knew that most of the dwarves hated everything about her and wanted her out of the mountain. She had heard them whispering, seen them glaring at her before turning away. She was also aware that part of her had been thinking about what it would be like for their child, growing up in an environment like that if it continued. She and Kili were the ones who had fallen in love and defied their kin's beliefs, their child was completely innocent of that and yet would have to suffer too because of them. "We have each other Kili," Tauriel said quietly, smiling when he turned to face her again. "It wasn't that long ago that I thought I would be raising this child without a father, that I would never see you again Kili," Tauriel whispered, shaking her head at the memory of holding Kili in her arms on the battlefield, believing that she would never see him again. "I am happy because you are in my life still and I thought I had lost you," she smiled, pressing a kiss to his forehead as he sighed. "I'm sorry that your mother won't accept our baby," she whispered. She didn't care that Dis hated her and that Dis found her presence disgusting but she did care that Kili's mother had upset him and was refusing to have anything to do with Kili and his child in the future.

"If she does not want to be a part of this miracle, then that it is her fault," Kili stated firmly, falling silent when Tauriel suddenly gasped and brought her hands to her abdomen. "Tauriel?" he asked quickly, her head shaking as she reached across and took hold of his hand before bringing it to her stomach and gently pressing it against the bump. "Tauriel what…" he began, going quiet again when he felt it. Hearing the redhead laugh gently, Kili glanced up at her briefly to see her smile growing before he looked down at her stomach again.

"Kili, that's our baby," Tauriel laughed. It was weird, feeling the baby kick for the first time. Looking across at the dwarf as he continued to stare down at her abdomen, the largest smile decorating his face, Tauriel grinned before she moved one of her hands and gently nudged his head so he was looking at her. "I love you," Tauriel whispered, leaning forward to kiss him gently while his hand rested against her stomach; both of them enjoying the feeling of their child kicking. Lying down slowly, Tauriel sighed as she watched Kili move to place a kiss to her bump; her head shaking as she watched him.

"You are a blessing," Kili whispered to her abdomen as Tauriel relaxed back on the bed. "You're going to be so loved little one. You are always going to be loved little one," the dwarf continued, moving his fingers across the bump as he sighed. "No matter what, you are always going to be my child. I don't care if you decide to fight with a bow and arrow or you hate it, whether you decide you don't want to learn to fight at all and want to be a scholar instead. I won't even care who you fall in love with one day as long as they make you happy. You could fall in love with a dwarf or an elf or even a hobbit as long as they make you as happy as your mother makes me," Kili insisted, hating that the tears were running down his cheeks again. "I promise you, you are always going to be loved little one and I will never ever let anyone hurt you. We are going to be a little family, the three of us and who knows, maybe one day you will have a sibling. Maybe even more than one," Kili stated before glancing up at Tauriel, sighing when he realised that she was fast asleep. Moving to lie down next to her, Kili sighed as he wrapped an arm around her and pulled her close; the redhead automatically moving to rest her head against his chest. "My family," the dwarf whispered, smiling to himself as he shut his eyes and allowed himself to relax.

**I hate the ending of this chapter, it's just too sweet but I couldn't think of anything else. What do you think? Love it? Hate it? Never want to read this story again? Let me know by reviewing! **


	19. Chapter 19

**Thank you so much again for your wonderful reviews. You are truly incredible in your responses, I absolutely love hearing from each and every one of you and I hope you continue to enjoy this story. I decided to go ahead a bit in time to the engagement announcement because I thought we needed to start moving on with the story and I couldn't think of anything else to fill in the time. **

**Please review again and let me know your thoughts on this chapter. Thank you again! **

She had been dreading the evening ahead of her all week. Kili had been determined that they were going to go ahead with their engagement party after his discussion with his mother and Thorin had agreed to the event, the two dwarves deciding on that evening before she had even had the chance to argue. She knew that Kili wanted to tell everyone their news, wanted all of his kin to know that she was going to be his wife and they were going to have a baby but she was dreading it. Part of her just wasn't comfortable with the idea yet. She wanted to be happy like Kili was. She wanted to smile and be confident beside him but she couldn't shake off the feeling that it was a bad idea. She would have preferred to just tell people quietly and individually rather than nearly all of the dwarves in one go. Breathing out as she brushed her fingers through her hair, Tauriel sighed before she shook her head and moved towards the door. She knew that Kili was probably pacing up and down in their bedroom, desperate for her to appear so that they could get to the event. Opening it slowly, Tauriel forced herself to smile as she stepped out and shook her head again. There he was, pacing.

"You look very handsome Kili," Tauriel observed, the dark haired dwarf turning to face her as a large grin decorated his face. He was dressed in a dark blue tunic, befitting of his status as the Prince of Erebor, and for once he had actually managed to get his hair under reasonable control. "I like this," the elf commented, moving closer to him as she ran her fingers across the dark material he was wearing. "I love this," the redhead admitted, leaning down to gently press a kiss to his forehead as he smiled at her. "You look very handsome," she whispered to him, his hands moving to rest on her bump as she sighed. The dress that he'd had made for her was of the same colour and flowed naturally over her changing figure, highlighting some of the changes to her body especially well and attempting to mask the even more noticeable bump. "I don't like your hair like this," Tauriel said quietly, her fingers moving to the neatly brushed hair that was now slightly braided. "The braids I like but you don't look like my Kili like this," the redhead admitted, Tauriel laughing when the dwarf stepped away from her and immediately ran his fingers through his hair; desperately trying to mess it up again.

"What do you think?" Kili asked, the redhead nodding as she stared at the messed up hair again. "Do I look more like your Kili?" he smirked, the elf laughing before she leant down and kissed him gently; her hands wrapping around him as he kept her close. "You look so beautiful," Kili whispered, keeping her close as he stared at the dark material she was wearing. "I think I might have to fight them all off tonight," he commented, her eyes rolling at him before she stepped away and rested her hand on her abdomen; feeling the baby kick her as the dwarf moved towards the door. "Are you ready?" he asked quietly, turning to face her as he held his hand out towards her. Was she ready? Was she really ready for everyone to know the truth? "Tauriel?" Kili asked quietly, the redhead breathing out slowly before she nodded and stepped towards him; taking hold of his hand tightly. It was ridiculous how terrified she felt. It was just a party; a party where everyone would learn that she engaged to the Prince of Erebor. "They need to know," Kili whispered.

"I know, I know they do," Tauriel said quietly, following him out of the room as he began to lead her towards the great hall. Thorin had been busy organising the feast since they had agreed on a date and Bombur had taken to the challenge happily. He was pleased to have another event to cater in such close succession to the coronation. Falling silent as they moved through the corridor, Tauriel sighed as she continued to feel the baby kick her. Of course the baby would choose that evening to be particularly active. She was supposed to be trying to keep her pregnancy secret for that little bit longer until everyone knew that she was engaged but she didn't know how long that would last with the baby kicking her so much. She could already hear the music and cheering from within the room they were quickly approaching.

"The party has already started by the sounds of it," Kili commented, clearly excited as Tauriel nodded slowly. What if they absolutely hated the news that she was engaged to their Prince? What if all the dwarves really did detest her? "Please stop worrying my love and enjoy yourself," the dwarf smiled, moving closer to her before leaning up and kissing her gently. "Let's go and enjoy being engaged Tauriel," the dwarf smiled, squeezing her hand tightly as she nodded slowly. She wanted to start enjoying being an engaged women. She wanted to be able to acknowledge that she was going to be a wife and mother, something that she had never imagined would happen to her.

"I can't wait to be your wife," Tauriel admitted, the dwarf nodding before he slowly opened the door and stepped inside, Tauriel following as amazement covered her face. The room was practically full with Kili's kin, who were all talking and laughing amongst themselves. Some of the dwarves, including Bofur, were also playing music and she could see Thorin in the distance. "It's busier than I imagined," Tauriel said quietly as she moved further into the hall, looking across to see that Kili was beaming at everything around her. "Go and talk to your kin," Tauriel laughed, resting her hand on Kili's shoulder as he glanced up at her, clearly concerned about leaving her.

"What about you?" Kili asked quietly.

"I'll go and talk as well," she shrugged, Kili nodding before he squeezed her hand and slowly stepped away; Tauriel laughing when he was quickly embraced by two young dwarves. Moving through the crowd, Tauriel felt all the eyes on her as she desperately tried to stay strong. She knew that many of them had heard Dis' comments about her and were wondering why she was still in Erebor.

"Elf," a voice suddenly called out, the brunette stopping as she realised who had shouted at her. "Are you not going to acknowledge me she-elf?" the voice asked, getting louder as Tauriel remained perfectly still, aware that everyone was staring at her. She could hear the music getting quieter and the voices were dying down as she remained silent. Slowly turning, Tauriel breathed out as she found herself staring at Dis; panic filling in her veins at the confrontation she knew was about to happen. Glancing around the room, Tauriel could see Kili and Thorin moving towards them. "This elf thinks she's going to marry my son," Dis laughed, looking around the crowd that moved around them; Kili and Thorin pushing through the crowd to move towards Dis.

"Dis, this is not the right time for this," Thorin hissed.

"This is the perfect time. I mean, it's why you've brought everyone here," Dis declared, Tauriel biting into her lip as the whispers began again. "To announce that you're allowing your heir to marry that elf whore," she hissed, her disgust at the idea of the marriage making Tauriel shut her eyes briefly. She hated that her future mother in law hated her so much because of actions she wasn't even involved in.

"Mother," Kili warned, looking around to see that everyone was staring at them and that they were whispering amongst themselves. "Mother please stop this," Kili begged. "This isn't the appropriate place to do this," he whispered, clearly embarrassed by his mother's behaviour as he glanced across at the redhead. He could see the shock that was covering Tauriel's face at his mother's behaviour and he desperately wanted to take her away. He knew that the redhead was trying to be strong in front of everyone but he could see that she was debating whether to run or to fight; two things that he knew she wouldn't want to do.

"Stop what? Stop telling the truth?" Dis asked, glancing across at her brother and then at her son. "Do they know yet?" she asked, seeing the panic that quickly covered her sons face before she laughed. "You haven't told them that the whore is pregnant," Dis declared, Tauriel's eyes shutting at the dwarf's announcement and the uproar that began. She could hear the voices, the horror in most of them. "You don't even know for sure that that thing growing inside of her is yours Kili. She's probably tricking you and you're too blind to see it. We all know that she was sneaking around at night into the room of that elven prince. Even if it is yours, then it is not natural. It will not be a dwarf."

"Dis, this is not the place for this discussion and your anger," Thorin said sternly, moving closer to his sister as he grasped her arm. "Tonight is for Kili and Tauriel," he told her quietly, looking around to see that they were still being watched by the majority of their horrified kin. "Leave now Dis before you make an even bigger fool of yourself," he ordered, his sister glaring up at him before pushing him away and walking out of the room; slamming the door behind her. "Kili, Tauriel, come here," Thorin called out, the couple slowly approaching him while Tauriel slowly looked down at the floor. This wasn't how it was supposed to be. They were supposed to be celebrating, they were supposed to announce the news and be happy. Dis was not supposed to tell them everything, especially about the baby. Tauriel could feel all of the dwarfs' eyes on hers, the majority of them glancing down at her abdomen for signs of her pregnancy. "Everybody, my sister was correct in her announcement that my nephew is to be married to Tauriel," Thorin announced, his kin staring at him as Kili moved closer to the redhead and slowly laced his fingers with hers. "They have my blessing and I know they will be very happy together," the King continued; his smile growing as he nodded at the couple. "If you would raise your glasses to Kili and Tauriel on their engagement," Thorin declared, holding his glass in the air while the couple watched silently, aware that only a few of the dwarves had lifted their drinks; all of them members of the original company. "To Kili and Tauriel," Thorin stated.

"To Kili and Tauriel," the six or seven dwarves repeated, the redhead glancing down at her feet in embarrassment.

"Kili, I think I might go to bed," Tauriel said quietly, looking down at the young dwarf as he stared up at her and nodded slowly. "I'm sorry," she whispered, hating that she was abandoning him but she couldn't do this. She couldn't just stand in the room and have everyone stare at her; commenting on her behaviour and their behaviour. She knew that if she stayed any longer she would fight with someone and that would just cause more problems. "I'm sorry Kili," she said again, squeezing his hand gently before she let go and moved towards the door; aware that everyone was beginning to talk about her again. They were probably commenting on how she was running away, on how she couldn't cope. Moving through the dark corridors, Tauriel breathed out in relief when she entered their room and sat down on their bed again. She had never hated someone as much as she did at the moment. She hated Dis for upsetting Kili so much; she hated her for telling everyone their news, for creating such suspicion around them, for making her out to be a distrustful whore. Undoing her dress, the redhead slowly stepped out of the dark material before resting her hands on her abdomen and shaking her head. Even though she had been terrified about attending the party, she hadn't thought that she would be leaving the party even more desperate to hide. She had hoped that the party would have allowed her to embrace her engagement and, therefore, her pregnancy. She hadn't thought that everything that had happened that evening would have occurred. Changing into her night clothes in silence, Tauriel sighed as she moved back towards the bed and sat down again; resting her hand on her abdomen as she fell back against the pillows. Hearing a small knock at the door, Tauriel glanced across before sighing. "Who is it?" she asked, not moving off the bed.

"Concerned friends," Bofur responded, her head shaking slowly before she climbed off the bed again and approached the door. Opening it, Tauriel smiled weakly at the sight of five dwarves standing outside her bedroom. "May we come in?" he asked her, the redhead sighing before she moved out of the doorway and allowed them into the room before shutting the door and turning to face them. "Tauriel, you have already met Oin," Bofur declared, indicating towards the older dwarf as Tauriel nodded; remembering how he had checked her over after the accident with Kili. "However, I would like you to properly meet Ori, Bombur and Balin," he smiled, Tauriel nodding at them slowly as they both smiled across at her.

"We wanted to come and congratulate you on your news," Ori said quietly, Tauriel smiling at how quiet and nervous he seemed.

"Thank you," Tauriel whispered, moving to sit down on the edge of the bed before looking around the room. "Please, sit down and get comfortable," she smiled, the five dwarves nodding before they sat down on the various chairs and furniture around the room.

"We are sorry for Dis' behaviour," Oin sighed after they had gotten comfortable. "I can't believe the things she was saying about you, utter rubbish," he declared, shaking his head as Tauriel bit into her lip and looked down at her abdomen. "Once they get used to the idea, many of our kin will be happy for you both," Oin said quietly as the rest of his kin nodded in agreement.

"A baby is a precious gift, we all know that," Balin declared, Tauriel looking up at him as he smiled at her. "There are few female dwarf's so we do not have children often and I am aware that you do not have children often as elves," the older dwarf explained as the redhead nodded slowly, running her fingers across the bump as the baby began to kick her again. "Congratulations to you and Kili," the bearded dwarf smiled, the redhead nodding slowly as a shy smile decorated her face.

"Thank you," Tauriel said again, aware that she was barely contributing to the conversation. "I am sorry that you had to find out like that. We desperately wanted to do it all properly. We wanted everyone to get used to the idea of our engagement before we mentioned the baby," the redhead whispered, the dwarves immediately shaking their heads before Bofur stood up and moved towards her.

"Dis was wrong for doing that," Bofur stated, Tauriel looking at him as she smiled weakly. "At least you can stop hiding now. You can start enjoying your pregnancy and now you have a wedding to plan," the dwarf explained, a small laugh leaving the redhead's lips as she nodded slowly. "And then you'll have a baby in your life," Bofur added, Tauriel nodding again as she pressed her hand against where her baby was still kicking happily.

"And if that baby is anything like Kili was as a child then you'll have a lot of fun ahead of you," Bombur commented, all the dwarves bar Ori nodding in agreement. "He was an absolute nightmare when he was young," Bombur muttered, shaking his head at the memory of Kili as a child while Tauriel relaxed back.

"Tell me about him," Tauriel whispered, looking at the dwarves that were sat around her room.

"I remember the first time I held Kili," Balin admitted, Tauriel's eyebrows rising as the older dwarf smiled weakly. "He had the darkest curls and he was such a happy baby, always smiling and looking around," the bearded dwarf said quietly. "He was such a curious child. He used to crawl into all these places and no one could find him for ages," Balin explained, Tauriel laughing gently at the image. She wasn't surprised at the idea of Kili always disappearing as a child.

"He once disappeared for hours and we couldn't find him anywhere. It turns out he had decided to spy on Thorin and got himself stuck up a tree. He was determined he could get down so he didn't ask for any help, it was only when it started getting dark that he started shouting," Bombur commented, Tauriel's smile growing as she listened in silence. "It took us ages to get him down; he clung onto the branch and refused to let go," he laughed, shaking his head at the memory while everyone else laughed. "In the end, Thorin went up the tree and carried him down," he explained. "Fili wouldn't let him go anywhere without him after that," Bombur said quietly, the redhead shutting her eyes at the memory of the blonde dwarf. She had seen his body on the battlefield and had even mourned his death, even though they had barely known one another. "They went everywhere together those two, always causing trouble," the redhead dwarf admitted, Tauriel opening her eyes to see the sadness that had decorated their faces.

"He would have been so excited to be an uncle," Ori said quietly, the sadness obvious in his voice as she smiled weakly and nodded. "I'm sorry for what happened this evening Tauriel," the young dwarf said quietly, Tauriel glancing across at him as her smile grew.

"I'm not surprised, I know she hates me," Tauriel said quietly before sighing. "I just want my baby to have a home. I want my child to feel like they belong somewhere, to know that they're loved," she said honestly, smiling weakly when Bofur rested his hand on her shoulder. "I have seen how much family means to each and every one of you, if I'm honest I've been jealous of how close you all are and how deeply you love one another," she explained, glancing up at Bofur as he remained silent and watched her. "I want this baby to feel a part of that," she said quietly before shaking her head and standing; her hand resting on her abdomen as she moved towards the other end of the room.

"Your baby is already loved Tauriel," Balin stated, the redhead turning to face him as he stood up and moved towards her. "Your baby is going to so loved when it arrives," the bearded dwarf explained as she bit into her lip, smiling weakly when he took hold of her hand and squeezed it. "Our Prince is alive because of you Tauriel, the line of Durin survives and continues because of you, this baby is going to be cherished," Balin stated, smiling up at her as tears began to appear in her eyes.

"I'm sorry, I've never been this emotional before," Tauriel muttered, using her free hand to brush stray tears away while Oin chuckled from his seat.

"Don't worry, it's perfectly normal with pregnancies," Oin explained, the redhead glancing across at him as he smiled. "Gloin's wife threw pots at his head once when she was expecting Gimli because he trailed mud through their home after she had just cleaned," Oin smirked, Tauriel laughing gently in response as she pictured the idea. "He was absolutely terrified. I've never seen a dwarf scrub the floor so hard," Oin smirked.

"Please don't worry about how our kin are reacting," Bombur smiled as the elf looked across at him. "They'll get used to the idea soon," he explained, the redhead nodding as she breathed out in relief. She had needed this. She had needed to talk to someone other than Kili and Thorin about the baby. She needed to someone who wasn't related to the baby that was growing inside her. "Just watch, they'll soon be as happy for you as we are," the redhead declared.

KILI&TAURIEL

She was fast asleep when Kili entered their bedroom later that night. He had spent the rest of the evening, since she had left the party, trying to talk to his kin and make them understand why Tauriel was the woman he had decided to marry and start a family with. Many of them had grunted at him, clearly unhappy at the idea of their Prince marrying an elf and having a child with her, but some of them had been much more welcoming to the idea. Kili had even seen some of the members of the company leave the event together towards his bedroom where Tauriel had retreated too. Removing the dark blue tunic, Kili yawned as he finished undressing before sliding into their bed and wrapping his arm around the redhead; pulling her close to him as she turned to cuddle into his side.

"Hello beautiful," Kili whispered, smiling to himself when the redhead groaned in response and buried her face into his shoulder. "How are you feeling?" he asked quietly, looking down at her as she looked up at him and yawned; his fingers brushing hair away from her face as they watched one another in silence for a moment.

"Exhausted," Tauriel whispered. "Bofur and some others of the company came to see me," she said quietly, the young dwarf nodding slowly as she smiled. "They're happy for us and they were telling me how excited they are for our baby to arrive," she admitted, Kili beaming at the news before he leant down and pressed a kiss to her forehead. "They were also telling me about how much of a nightmare child you were," she whispered, the dwarf groaning before he turned and buried his face into the pillow; smiling into the material when he heard Tauriel laugh. "I hope our baby is like you," the redhead admitted, running her fingers up and down his back as he turned his head to look at her in silence. "Kili," Tauriel began before falling silent, her fingers moving to play with his hair as he watched her.

"Yes love," he said quietly when she didn't start talking again.

"I want you to marry me as soon as we possibly can," Tauriel stated, the dwarf beaming as he leant forward and kissed her quickly. "I want to be your wife. I want everyone to know that I am your wife Kili," she whispered against his lips, her desperation obvious as he nodded slowly. "Marry me, make me your wife," Tauriel begged, the dwarf kissing her again before smiling against her lips. "I want to be your wife more than anything in the world," she whispered. She was not going to let Dis disturb their plans anymore. Kili's mother could show her disgust at the idea but she wasn't going to let her destroy her happiness anymore. She wanted to be Kili's wife now. The dwarves all knew so they had no excuses to delay getting married. "Make me your wife," Tauriel whispered.

"Tomorrow," Kili responded. "We'll start organising it tomorrow."

**So what do you think? Love it? Hate it? No opinions at all? **

**I wanted some of the dwarves to immediately be fond of Tauriel and I love Bofur so of course he would make a reappearance. Also, I couldn't resist having Dis cause more trouble and this seemed like the perfect opportunity; of course I wasn't going to let it go smoothly! Anyway, let me know your thoughts and if you have anything you want to see in future chapters, let me know and I will try and get it into the story. **


	20. Chapter 20

**I can't believe how many of you reviewed in one night. You are all so amazing and your reviews are so kind and lovely to read. I love reading them when I wake up in the morning; they're such a great way to start the day. **

**I decided to write a happier chapter for once so I hope you enjoy it. Please review and let me know your thoughts. **

"What do you want to do today?" Kili asked quietly, lying on his side as he watched the redhead. She was also lying on her side, the two of them staring at one another while his hand rested gently on her abdomen. He wanted to do something with her today. He wanted to get her out of their room; he wanted her to start enjoying living in Erebor. "Anything you want to do Tauriel and we'll do it," he smiled, leaning across to kiss her gently as her smile began to grow against his lips. "You must have some ideas," he whispered, his fingers moving through her hair as she nodded her head slightly. There was something that she wanted to do. She had wanted to do it since she had arrived in Erebor but hadn't felt able too until now. "Tell me," Kili whispered, pressing a kiss to her nose before she laughed gently at the touch.

"I want to go to Dale," Tauriel admitted, the dark haired dwarf nodding as she smiled at him. "I want to see Bard's children," the redhead explained, unable to stop herself from beaming when Kili leant across and kissed her again. "We should get dressed if we're going to go to Dale Kili," she whispered, her smile continuing to grow as she sat up and brushed her fingers through her hair; the dwarf watching her in amazement. She was so beautiful. He still couldn't believe that this stunning elf was actually going to marry him.

"Tauriel," Kili said quietly, sitting up slowly before he moved to sit behind her; his fingers moving her hair so that he could press a kiss to her shoulder. "There's something I've wanted to do for a long time Tauriel," the dwarf admitted, the redhead turning her head to look at him as he beamed at her. "I want to braid your hair," he said honestly, the elf staring at him in amazement before she nodded slowly. She knew how important braiding was to a dwarf and she had been surprised that Kili hadn't offered beforehand to do it. "I want to put betrothal beads in your hair so that everyone knows that you're my future wife," the dwarf explained, Tauriel leaning back to kiss him again lightly before smiling against his lips.

"Do it," Tauriel said quietly, laughing when the dwarf quickly climbed out of the bed before moving towards a chest and opening it. Watching in silence, Tauriel smiled when Kili slowly removed a smaller box before moving back towards her and sitting on the edge of the bed; opening it to reveal the three beads that sat inside. "How long have you had these?" she asked, staring at how beautiful they were as he continued to watch her.

"I've had them since before I proposed to you," he said quietly, moving to sit behind her again before he started to braid her hair; the redhead smiling to herself at the idea. Her people would be disgusted to see her with betrothal beads in her hair. "Every day I've argued about putting them in your hair but then I kept telling myself it would be better to wait until everyone knew; stop them learning that way," Kili explained, his focus remaining on her hair as he began to braid the beads in.

"I was wondering if you would ever do it," Tauriel admitted. "I thought you wouldn't do it because I'm an elf. I was wondering whether it would be appropriate for you to do it and whether you'd chosen not too because I wasn't one of your kin," the redhead said quietly, shutting her eyes when Kili pressed a kiss into her hair and sighed.

"I don't care that you're not one of my kin Tauriel; that has never mattered to me," Kili explained, finishing her braid before wrapping an arm around her abdomen and pulling her close to him gently. "If you will share your culture with me, then I shall share mine with you," the dwarf whispered into her ear while her hand moved to rest against his on her stomach. "This baby is going to be a mixture of both dwarf and elf, I want to understand everything elven that you teach our child," Kili stated before pressing another kiss into her hair and laughing when he felt their baby kick. "Our baby is a little kicker," he commented.

"Never seems to stop now," Tauriel admitted, smiling fondly down at where their hands were resting. "We're going to have fun with this baby, I think it's going to be just like you were," the redhead explained as Kili's eyebrows rose. How did she know what he had been like a baby? Groaning as he remembered the five dwarves that had visited her, Kili shook his head. What had they been telling her? "I think this baby is going to be getting into all sorts of trouble and driving us both crazy with worry," she smiled, the dwarf watching her in amazement. She looked so beautiful and happy, thinking about the future ahead of them as a family. It was the first time in a while that she had looked completely content, without any concerns in the world. "This is a huge kingdom, it will be so easy for our baby to hide," the redhead smiled before falling silent and looking towards the door. "Let's get ready," Tauriel said quietly, looking back at her fiancé as he nodded and watched her climb out of the bed before moving towards the mirror. "It's beautiful Kili," Tauriel beamed, looking at the braid that decorated her hair before she turned to face him. "I love it," she smiled, her fingers touching the beads gently as the dwarf beamed at her. "I can't wait to be your wife," Tauriel admitted, Kili moving out of their bed before walking over towards her and wrapping his arm around her body; smiling at their reflection. He truly was the luckiest dwarf.

KILI&TAURIEL

Tauriel was amazed at how much Dale had changed since the last time she had been there. She could remember the bodies that had filled the ruined streets and the destroyed buildings that had been all that had made up Dale. However, it now seemed like a completely different city. It was impossible to believe that only a few months ago it had been the sight of a major battle. Now, the streets were filled with stalls and the sound of laughter, the sound of people living their lives. The buildings had all been repaired now and Tauriel found herself rather in love with the city. Feeling Kili squeeze her hand, the redhead looked across at him as a small smile decorated her face.

"I can't believe how quickly they've rebuilt," Tauriel said to him, slowly moving through the crowd of people as Kili nodded. Stopping by one of the stalls, Tauriel smiled to herself as she down at the collection of blankets that decorated the table. Looking across at the old woman who was sat at the stall, the redhead smiled before brushing her fingers across the soft material and taking it into her hands. "These are beautiful," Tauriel whispered, glancing across at Kili as he rested his hand on the small of her back and stared at the blanket in her hands.

"We would like to buy this one," Kili declared, shocking Tauriel as she looked at him and then at the woman who quickly held her hand out and nodded; taking the blanket from the redhead. Paying her quickly, Kili smiled when the woman passed the blanket back to Tauriel, who smiled at her and quickly moved away.

"You didn't need to buy it," Tauriel whispered when they began to walk through the market again. "I was just looking," she muttered, not used to people buying things for her. She normally worked hard and saved for things she wanted and she often didn't spoil herself anyway. Her room in Mirkwood had barely contained any possessions and she had even less in Erebor.

"I could see that you liked it and was thinking about it for the baby," Kili stated, the redhead nodding slowly as she continued to hold the soft blanket in her hands. She had been thinking about it for the baby. "So I bought it for our tiny little baby. Our first gift to our little one," the dark haired dwarf said happily, leading her through the streets while the redhead continued to look at the blanket.

"You're going to spoil this baby Kili," Tauriel laughed as the dwarf shrugged.

"I'm going to spoil you both. You two are the greatest things to happen to me," Kili explained, the elf smiling weakly as he stared up at her. "Everything you ever want, I shall give to you. You shall have everything that could possibly make you happy," the dwarf declared as Tauriel shook her head and stopped before resting her hand on Kili's cheek.

"I have everything I want right here Kili," Tauriel stated before leaning down and pressing a kiss to his lips, not caring who saw. "I have you and I have our baby. Nothing else in the world matters to me than the two of you," she whispered, kissing him again before she stood up straight and held the blanket in her hands. "I love the blanket though, thank you Kili," the redhead added, realising that she hadn't thanked him for it yet.

"Tauriel, Kili," a voice suddenly called out, the two of them turning to see Bard standing on a set of stairs staring at them; a large smile covering his face when they nodded. "What are you both doing in Dale?" he asked, quickly moving towards them as they glanced at one another. "I thought you had gone back to Mirkwood with the rest of the elves Tauriel," Bard commented as she nodded slowly.

"I did but then I found out I had a reason to return," she smiled, squeezing Kili's hand as Bard smiled at the two of them.

"It is nice to see you both again, my children will love to see you while you are in Dale," Bard stated, the dwarf and elf nodding at the idea of seeing Sigrid, Tilda and Bain again. "And I must say congratulations to you Tauriel," he commented, glancing down at her abdomen as she blushed. The dress she had chosen to wear was more figure hugging then she had previously decided to wear but she had no reason to hide her pregnancy anymore. The dwarves all knew now and she wasn't going to spend the rest of her pregnancy pretending that she wasn't for other people's benefit. "And I'm going to guess that I have to congratulate you as well Kili," Bard smirked as the dwarf laughed and nodded. "How did your uncle react to the news?"

"Fine," Kili admitted. "I think he has a fond spot for Tauriel," the dwarf laughed, everyone noticing the small blush that decorated the elf's face. "It's my mother who's reacted badly," he admitted as Bard sighed and began to walk through the streets, Tauriel and Kili following him in silence.

"Mother's always react badly when they face the realisation that they are losing their child to another person," Bard stated as Kili nodded slowly. "Mothers with their sons and fathers with their daughters especially," he continued to explain, Tauriel smiling as Kili's fingers laced with hers. "The poor men who marry my girls one day," Bard added quickly before the three of them laughed gently at the comment and stopped outside a house. "This is our new home," Bard explained, Tauriel staring at the large building as Bard sighed. "It's much larger than the last one, the girls are still trying to decide what to use certain rooms for," he stated, moving towards before he pushed it open and turned to stare at the elf and dwarf. "Do come inside," he quickly said, watching as they moved into the house and immediately looked around.

"It is nice to see Dale rebuilt again," Tauriel admitted, following Bard through the corridors before they entered their kitchen. "Everyone looks so happy now," the redhead smiled, remembering the smiling faces and sound of laughter that had filled the market place.

"It was difficult to start with but we managed and we have our homes again," Bard explained, sitting down by the table before Kili and Tauriel joined him. "We don't have to worry about a dragon anymore or flooding or a lack of food. We now live in a prosperous city," Bard said proudly, the redhead nodding as she brushed her hand across her abdomen. Hearing footsteps in the distance, Bard smiled as he looked back towards the door. "Sigrid, Tilda, Bain, there are people who want to see you," he called out, Tauriel smiling as she glanced across at Kili, who was already watching her. Hearing the children's voices get louder as they approached the kitchen, Tauriel bit into her lip before she turned to face the door; beaming when the three children entered the kitchen together.

"Tauriel, Kili," Sigrid said in amazement while Tilda ran ahead and wrapped her arms around the elf, who quickly hugged her close. "What are you doing here?" she questioned, moving further into the room as her brother approached Kili and hugged him quickly.

"We thought we would come and visit you while we had some free time," Kili explained, laughing when Tilda let go of Tauriel and immediately wrapped her arms around him instead. "We had some news we wanted to tell you anyway," he added while the redhead nodded in agreement; desperate to tell the three children about their engagement and the baby. Watching as Bain and Tilda sat down beside their father, Sigrid approached them before hugging the redhead quickly and moving to sit down in the only free space around the table.

"What news?" Tilda asked quickly, everyone laughing at her impatience as she beamed across at the dwarf and elf.

"Tauriel and I are getting married," Kili smiled, beaming when both Tilda and Sigrid squealed at the news; Bard's head shaking at his daughters reactions to the news. "There's something else as well," he added before looking across at the redhead, who nodded slowly. "Do you want to tell them?" he asked quietly, Tauriel breathing out before she looked across at the three children.

"I'm pregnant, I'm going to have a baby," Tauriel declared, the two girls staring at her in amazement as she nodded slowly; laughing when the baby kicked her hard. "The baby knows we're talking about it," she muttered.

"How?" Tilda asked quietly.

"It's started to kick me again," Tauriel explained, smiling at the shocked expression that quickly covered the young girls face. "Come here," the redhead whispered, watching when Tilda nervously stood up and moved towards her before Tauriel took hold of her hand and slowly led it to rest on her abdomen. "Can you feel that?" she asked quietly, looking up at the young girl as she nodded slowly; laughing at the feeling of the baby kicking her.

"Does it hurt?" Tilda asked nervously before Tauriel shook her head.

"No. It's just an odd feeling but the whole thing is odd to me, the idea that there is this life growing inside me at the moment," Tauriel admitted before looking across at Sigrid, who was watching her in silence. "Would you like to feel Sigrid?" the redhead asked as the blonde bit into her lip and nodded quietly before standing and moving towards the elf while Tilda returned to her seat. Holding her hand out towards the blonde, Tauriel slowly took Sigrid's hand in hers before moving it to her abdomen; smiling when Sigrid laughed gently in amazement.

"That's incredible," Sigrid commented as Kili beamed proudly.

"It certainly is," Kili responded, leaning across to press a kiss to his fiancées cheek when Sigrid stepped away. "You're incredible Tauriel," the dwarf muttered to her, unable to remove the smile from her face as she cuddled into Kili's side and smiled across at Bard's family.

KILI&TAURIEL

"We should probably head back to Erebor soon," Kili commented as he looked back at the sun to see that it was beginning to set while Tauriel continued to sit on the city wall; staring out at the lake head of them. "Tauriel," the dwarf whispered again, moving to sit beside her before she sighed and turned to face him. "Where did you disappear too?" he asked quietly, brushing her fingers across her cheek as she smiled weakly and leant across to kiss him gently.

"I'm just enjoying being outside Kili," Tauriel admitting, moving closer so his arms could wrap around her. "The wind, the sunset," she whispered, her fingers lacing with his as he pressed another kiss into her hair and sighed. "It's nice to be outside of the mountain for a while. Don't get me wrong, I like Erebor but I have spent years outside. I am used to the wind in my hair and seeing the stars," she explained before shaking her head and glancing down at their hands. "I know you love the mountain Kili," she whispered.

"But I also grew up outside of the mountain," Kili declared. "I'm also used to seeing the sunset and feeling the wind. I was always exploring in forests," he explained, keeping her close to him as she rested back against his chest and looked up at him. "It's strange for me too, living under the mountain," the dwarf admitted, the redhead smiling as she nodded slowly.

"I guess we'll just have to learn to adjust together," Tauriel commented, laughing when Kili leant down and gently kissed her. "It'll become home to us eventually," she explained, kissing him again before she looked across at Erebor.

"One day we will be King and Queen of Erebor," Kili said quietly, the realisation hitting him as Tauriel shut her eyes. She had never thought of herself as a Queen. She had always been seen as a lower class of elf, a soldier more than royalty. In marrying Kili, she was becoming a part of the royal line of the dwarves. She was going to be Kili's Queen and their baby would one day be the ruler of Erebor. "You will be the most beautiful Queen," Kili continued, glancing down at the elf in his arms before he looked across at the kingdom. "Kind and loving but also brave and strong," the dwarf explained as the redhead opened her eyes and sat up.

"And you will be one of the greatest Kings Erebor will have ever seen Kili," Tauriel whispered before pressing a kiss to his forehead. "Just like your Uncle," she smiled, standing quickly before glancing down at her abdomen. "I am going to be a very fat bride when we get married," Tauriel muttered, shaking her head as she looked at the obvious bump.

"You are not fat," Kili sighed, climbing off the wall before he took hold of her hands. "Your body is changing to accommodate our child. Your body is the most beautiful thing I have ever seen," the dark haired dwarf whispered to her, brushing his fingers across her cheek as she bit into her lip. "I love that your figure has changed, I love that it is becoming clearer that you're pregnant with my child. I love that your breasts…" he began before falling silent while she laughed.

"Of course you'd love that my breasts have gotten bigger," Tauriel muttered, the dwarf shrugging in response.

"I'm a man and you are a very attractive and sexy woman," Kili smirked, the redhead rolling her eyes before he leant up and kissed her quickly. "I think you become sexier every day," he whispered against her lips, her head shaking as she began to laugh.

"With my body starting to swell and my emotions all over the place?" she asked as he nodded. "You have strange ideas about what's sexy Kili," she muttered before taking hold of his hand and sighing. "Let's go home my love," Tauriel whispered before the two of them began to walk through the quiet city together. "I fought Thranduil here," Tauriel said quietly, the memory suddenly returning her as they stopped. "I pointed an arrow at my King and told him he could not abandon your kin," she explained before shaking her head. "He would have killed me if it had not been for Legolas," Tauriel muttered, remembering the feeling of his blade pressed against her heart. "We would have died. Our baby and I. My body would have been found here," she said quietly, moving her hand to her abdomen as Kili glanced up at her to see the tears that were starting to fill her eyes.

"But you didn't," Kili declared, squeezing her hand while she glanced down at him. "You are both alive and well and I will never let Thranduil hurt you," he stated firmly before leaning up and kissing her gently. "I love you, you are here, we are all here," he whispered, desperately trying to increase her confidence as she nodded slowly. "No one will ever destroy what we have here. Not Thranduil, not my mother, no one will ever hurt us Tauriel because we love one another," Kili declared, kissing her once more before he began to lead her through the city again; clinging onto her hand tightly.

"I would marry you tomorrow if I could Kili. I just want to be your wife now," Tauriel admitted when they finally walked out of Dale and started to move towards Erebor. Stopping for a moment, Kili smiled as he turned to face the redhead and looked up at her.

"So why don't you?"

**Thoughts? Love it? Hate it? Hate me because of my love for rather dramatic cliff hangers? Please review and let me know. **


	21. Chapter 21

**Wow! Thank you again for the huge amount of reviews to the last chapter. You are the greatest readers someone could ask for and I hope you continue to enjoy the story with this chapter. It's very different to how the story has been before hand and at parts I like it and at parts I hate- typical of me! It might seem like a chapter that stops and starts as well but hopefully you enjoy it and review! It's my longest chapter, so I apologise if some of you think it's too long. **

**Let me know your thoughts and I will try to update again tomorrow!**

_"So why don't you?" _

_"What?" Tauriel asked quietly, staring at the dwarf who was stood in front of her as she shook her head. Was he really suggesting that they got married tomorrow? How could they possibly manage that? One day wasn't enough time to organise a wedding suitable for the Prince of Erebor. She knew that their wedding had to be a large occasion. The majority of the dwarves had to be in an attendance, people from various other cities had to be invited as well. They couldn't just get married because they wanted to do, she knew that. She knew that their wedding had to be a huge event. The Prince of Erebor, the heir to the throne, was marrying an elf after they had regained their kingdom. It was an important event. "We can't possibly get married tomorrow," she declared. Could they? Could they actually get married? She desperately wanted too. She desperately wanted to be able to call Kili her husband and be his wife. They had waited so long now to be with one another, why did they have to wait any longer? "How…" she began quietly, falling silent when Kili stepped towards her, lacing his fingers with hers while they watched one another. _

_"We have the big ceremony later on which everyone can attend," Kili began as she bit into her lip. "It will be the service everyone thinks appropriate for my title," he said quietly before moving his free hand to her cheek. "And tomorrow, you and I, and a few people that we trust, can go somewhere and we can get married," he suggested, her smile growing as he leant up and kissed her gently. "I would marry you in front of everyone if it didn't take so long to plan a wedding and we didn't have to wait for other people to turn up but I want to be your husband now," Kili explained against her lips as she nodded slowly. "Let's be selfish and do this for us Tauriel. I wasn't brought up to be the heir of the throne and I don't think you ever believed you would marry a Prince," the dwarf explained as she nodded in agreement, squeezing his hand as her smile continued to grow. "Let's have a quiet wedding like we probably would have had if this hadn't happened to us," he suggested, a small laugh leaving her lips before she leant down and kissed him quickly. "Please say yes, please say yes and say you'll be my wife by this time tomorrow," Kili begged; her head nodding as she felt the tears begin to appear in her eyes. _

_"Yes," Tauriel whispered before laughing gently, the dwarf beaming at the sound. "Yes, I'll marry you tomorrow. I don't want to wait any longer," the redhead smiled, kissing him quickly before they both laughed in amazement. "Are you sure it will be a good idea? It won't make people angrier with us will it?" Tauriel whispered, holding onto his hand as they began to walk through Dale again. They were already the main topic of gossip around Erebor; she didn't want to make it any worse for Kili. "I don't want to cause any more problems," the redhead admitted, the dwarf nodding as he squeezed her hand and smiled up at her._

_"Tauriel, I want to be your husband and you want to be my wife," Kili stated, looking at Erebor as it loomed in the distance. "Let's do it the way we want. We can have the largest wedding that they could possibly organise for everyone soon but marry me tomorrow. Imagine, we can have a small wedding with the people we are close too there, perhaps under the stars and it would be our wedding," he suggested, smiling at the idea of marrying the redhead tomorrow under the stars they both cherished and missed from their time in the mountain. "I will tell Uncle when we get back to Erebor, I will explain that this is what we want and that we will still have the ceremony they all expect us to have later," the dark haired dwarf explained as Tauriel nodded slowly; her hand moving to rest on her abdomen as she sighed. _

_"Yes, yes I'll marry you tomorrow. Of course I'll marry you tomorrow. I would be a fool not to marry you tomorrow."_

Smiling into the pillow as she began to wake up, Tauriel laughed to herself at the memory of the previous evening. They were getting married. They were actually going to get married that evening. Moving her hand across the bed, Tauriel slowly turned to see that Kili was missing from the bed; the bed cold under her fingers. Where was he? Sitting up slowly, the redhead looked across to see that the room was empty before sighing and falling back against the pillows. It was her wedding day and her fiancé had disappeared before she had even woken up.

"Kili," Tauriel called out, climbing out of the bed before she moved towards the bathroom; not surprised to find that he wasn't there either. "Where has your father gone then?" Tauriel whispered, looking down at her abdomen before laughing gently. Moving back into their bedroom, the redhead quickly grabbed her dressing gown that was resting on the back of a chair before wrapping it around her body and smiling to herself. She was going to be someone's wife that evening; Kili would actually be her husband. Hearing a knock at the door, Tauriel turned as she moved towards the door and slowly opened; surprised to find Bofur standing in the doorway with a large grin decorating his face. "Good morning Bofur," the redhead greeted as he nodded, holding out a small box towards her as confusion covered her face.

"Kili asked me to give you this, he sends his apologises that he's not here but he had to go and do something important and he said that he will see you this evening," Bofur explained as the redhead took the small box from him and nodded. Clearly Kili had been needed to go and be the Prince of Erebor and she wasn't going to see her future husband until their wedding. She didn't even know when they were getting married. "Also, Sigrid and Tilda have asked you to visit them in Dale this afternoon," the dwarf explained, confusion covering her face as she looked up at him. She had only been there the previous day, what possibly could have happened that needed her to visit so soon after her previous visit?

"I shall visit them then," Tauriel stated. "Thank you for bringing this to me Bofur," the redhead said quickly as the dwarf shrugged and stepped away.

"I'll see you later Tauriel," the dwarf declared before disappearing, a small laugh leaving her lips as she retreated back into her room and shut the door. Sitting down on the edge of the bed in silence, Tauriel slowly opened the box before smiling to herself as the note that fell into her hand. Slowly unfolding it, Tauriel bit into her lip at Kili's recognisable handwriting.

_Tomorrow morning I will wake up beside you as your husband. _

"Oh Kili," Tauriel whispered, holding the small note in her hands for a moment as she reread the words again. Looking back at the box, Tauriel stared at the material that remained in the box; reaching across to gently touch it before she felt something hard underneath it. Slowly lifting the deep blue fabric away, the redhead felt the shock cover her face as her fingers brushed against the runestone that now sat inside the box. "Kili," Tauriel whispered, running her fingers across the rune as she smiled to herself. The last time she had seen the stone she had been placing it in his hands, believing that he was dead and she would never see him again. "I love you, you wonderful dwarf," she whispered to herself, lifting the stone out of the box before holding it tightly in her hand and resting back against the pillows. "Your daddy has decided to be romantic today little one," Tauriel commented as she ran her fingers across her bump and laughed.

TAURIEL&KILI

_"Uncle was really happy with the idea," Kili whispered, lying on his side as he stared at the redhead who was lying silently beside him, a content smile decorating her face. "When I was in your cells in Mirkwood, could you have ever imagined that this would have happened?" the dark haired dwarf asked, the elf laughing as she shook her head and moved closer to him; his arms wrapping around her body as she cuddled into his side. "I was your prisoner, now I am going to be your husband and the father of your child," Kili smirked, his fingers playing with her hair as she nodded slowly. "Malar knows what our baby will think when we tell the story of how we met," he smiled, Tauriel glancing up at him as she laughed. _

_"Yes, I saved your father's arse because he was going to be killed by spiders and then I imprisoned him," Tauriel responded while Kili pressed a kiss to her forehead. _

_"But your mother fell for my charms and my stories of fire moons," Kili continued, moving his hand down her side to rest against her abdomen. _

_"And then your father escaped and was nearly killed by an morgul wound so I had to go chasing after him to save his arse again," Tauriel smirked, the dwarf groaning before she leant up and kissed him. "I then saved his life and that's when he told me that he loved me," the redhead whispered against his lips, smiling when Kili kissed her quickly before nodding. "And I knew I never ever wanted to be apart from him again," she added, remaining close to him as he stared at her. _

_"You are truly incredible," Kili whispered, pressing another kiss into her hair before she shut her eyes and sighed. "From tomorrow, you will be stuck with me for the rest of my life," Kili declared, a small laugh leaving her lips as she nodded slowly; her fingers grasping the material tunic he was wearing. _

_"Take this off," Tauriel whispered, the dwarf sitting up to remove before he lay back down and felt her fingers brush against his scar. "I am not going to be stuck with you," Tauriel said quietly, running her fingers across the large scar that now decorated his torso. "I am honoured that you have chosen to spend your life with me, that you want to be my husband," Tauriel explained, leaning down to gently brush her lips against the scar while he watched in silence. "I never believed that I would be loved by someone and that I would love someone as much as I love you and our child," the redhead explained, his hand moving to her cheek as she leant up and kissed him again. "Thank you for talking to your uncle about tomorrow," she smiled against his lips as he nodded, stealing another kiss from her before she moved to lie down beside him again. "Tomorrow night I will be your wife." _

_"And I will be your very devoted husband," he responded. _

Smiling to herself as she walked through the crowds in Dale, Tauriel slowly ran across her abdomen as she looked around her. She still hadn't seen Kili and she was missing his company. She hadn't gone this long without seeing him since her arrival in Mirkwood. Even when he was unwell, she had been sat with him and caring for him. It was odd, going this long without hearing his voice or feeling him squeeze her hand. Approaching Bard's house, the redhead sighed as she knocked on the door and waited for someone to answer. She still couldn't understand why Tilda and Sigrid needed to see her. Smiling when the door slowly opened, Tauriel watched as Sigrid moved towards her and quickly hugged her.

"I was told that you wanted to see me Sigrid," Tauriel smiled as the blonde stepped away from her and nodded, taking hold of Tauriel's hand before she led her inside. "What's going on?" the redhead questioned, laughing as Sigrid began to run up the stairs; almost dragging Tauriel behind her. She could see that Sigrid was excited about whatever she had to tell her but Tauriel couldn't understand why she was being led further up into Bard's house. "Sigrid, are you going to tell me what's going on?" she asked when they finally stopped running up the stairs and moved towards a door.

"Kili sent a messenger late last night," Sigrid stated as Tauriel's eyebrows rose. Why had he sent a messenger to them? Standing in silence as Sigrid quickly opened the door, Tauriel watched as the blonde stepped inside to reveal a mannequin that was dressed in the most exquisite dress Tauriel had seen. "He told us about the wedding," the blonde explained as the redhead slowly moved inside, not taking her eyes off the dress while Sigrid smiled. "It's for you," she stated, laughing when Tauriel immediately turned to face her.

"What? How?" Tauriel asked quietly, returning her focus to the dress as Sigrid nodded. "How is this for me?" the redhead questioned, looking back at the blonde as she moved towards her.

"I went into the market and bought a white dress and then did some adjustments," Sigrid shrugged, unable to stop herself from laugh when Tauriel turned to face the dress again; finally reaching out to run her fingers across the lace. "I didn't have much time so it's not perfect," she whispered.

"It's the most beautiful dress I've ever seen," the redhead admitted, her fingers grasping the lace as she laughed. "Sigrid never say that this isn't perfect because it's incredible, I can't believe that you only made this in one day. It's not even been a day Sigrid," she declared, moving towards the blonde before she wrapped her arms around her. "Thank you, thank you so much," she laughed, aware that tears were appearing in her eyes as she stepped away and turned to face it again. "I didn't think I was going to have a dress like this," Tauriel admitted, brushing tears away from her face before she laughed to herself. "I was planning on just wearing this," the redhead declared, glancing down at the dark green dress that she was wearing. She didn't really have that many dresses that were appropriate for formal occasions, none of which were really suitable for her own wedding. She had decided that she would just wear something comfortable for her wedding rather than something extravagant but the dress in front of her had taken her breath away. "You made me a wedding dress Sigrid," Tauriel laughed, running her fingers through her hair before taking hold of Sigrid's hand and squeezing it. "You are coming, you and your family, aren't you?" she asked as the blonde nodded.

"Of course we are, Tilda is so excited," Sigrid admitted, Tauriel laughing as she moved her free hand to rest on her abdomen. "You are getting ready here for the wedding and then we are going to take you there," Sigrid explained, Tauriel's eyebrows rising as the blonde nodded. "Everything has been planned," she stated, the redhead sighing as she moved to sit down. Of course that was where Kili was. He was organising their wedding. He had been preparing everything since the moment they had agreed by the sounds of it. "I think it's very romantic," Sigrid admitted, sitting down beside the elf while Tauriel laughed and nodded.

"Do you anything about what he has planned?" Tauriel asked quickly, desperate to know what Kili had planned for their wedding.

"Yes, but I have been ordered not to tell you anything," the blonde immediately replied, Tauriel groaning before she laughed and nodded. "And you won't get anything out of Tilda either because she doesn't know anything except for the fact that you're getting married today," she added, moving to stand up while Tauriel laughed. Every precaution had clearly been taken to make sure that she knew nothing about her own wedding. "Now Tauriel, what are we going to do about your hair for this wedding of yours?" Sigrid asked, moving the conversation away to something that Tauriel could have an impact on.

"Why don't I let you be in charge of my hair for this evening? You clearly have an eye for these things while I just throw whatever I can on in the morning. It's even worse at the moment because I can barely fit in my clothes anymore," Tauriel smiled as Sigrid nodded slowly, looking at the redhead before smiling and sitting down next to her again. "Thank you for this Sigrid," Tauriel said quietly, taking hold of the girl's hand before smiling across at her. "I just hope you didn't stress while making it," she admitted, the blonde shaking her head before smiling.

"It was nice to have something different to do," Sigrid shrugged. "And you saved our lives, if I had to make a dress for anyone it would be you."

KILI&TAURIEL

"What if she doesn't come?" Kili asked quietly, pacing up and down as he looked back at his uncle and Bofur. "What if she decides she doesn't want to marry me?" the dwarf asked, stopping when Thorin moved towards him and rested a hand on his shoulder. "She's immortal, I'm mortal. What if being married to me…" he began before falling silent. Why were all of these things worrying him now? He had never thought about them before. They had never bothered him before. Why, on his wedding day, were these thoughts bothering him now?

"You two are perfect for one another Kili," Thorin stated. "She makes you happy and you make her laugh, I'd never seen an elf laugh before her. I never thought I'd welcome an elf into my family but it feels like Tauriel belongs with us, like she is supposed to be your wife," he declared as Kili smiled weakly. "She agreed to marry you today only yesterday Kili; she's not going to have changed her mind already," the dwarf smiled, squeezing his nephews shoulder before stepping away. "She will be here soon," Thorin declared, laughing when Tilda suddenly appeared and ran towards Kili; wrapping her arms around him as the young dwarf laughed.

"She's coming Kili," Tilda almost squealed as Kili glanced across at the two dwarves who were stood on the beach while Bain walked towards them. "I can just see them in the distance," she explained, unable to remove the large smile from her face as the young dwarf nodded slowly. She was coming. She was actually coming. They were actually going to get married. He had dreamt about this for months. Dreamt about calling her his wife and the family they were creating together.

"How long Tilda?" Kili asked quickly, snapping out of his thoughts as he glanced down at her.

"Five minutes," she stated, the dwarf laughing as she let go of him and quickly moved towards her brother.

"I want everyone to help me then," the dwarf declared quickly, unable to stop himself from laughing as everyone ran around to finish the last part of his plan.

KILI&TAURIEL

"I never expected to be nervous about getting married," Tauriel said quietly as she followed Bard and Sigrid, her arm wrapped around the blonde's as she bit into her lip and looked briefly up at the stars. The sun had set only moments ago and the darkness had taken over, reuniting her with her beloved stars. It was truly beautiful. "Is it normal to be nervous?" she asked quietly, looking across at Bard as he laughed and nodded. "I don't like being nervous, I shouldn't be nervous, there's nothing to be nervous about. It's just my wedding," she muttered, laughing at her reaction before she breathed out and rested her hand on her abdomen.

"We're nearly there," Bard smiled as Sigrid moved away from Tauriel. "Why don't you go ahead?" he asked, the blonde nodding before she smiled across at the redhead and quickly moved away. "Are you ready?" Bard questioned, moving towards Tauriel as she breathed out again and nodded. She was getting married. She was actually getting married. "You look very beautiful, Kili is a very lucky dwarf," he smiled, laughing when the redhead blushed gently and smiled.

"Thank you Bard," Tauriel whispered before laughing and glancing in the direction that Sigrid had disappeared in. "I'd like to get married now," she admitted, the man nodding before he held his arm out for her; a small laugh leaving her lips as she slowly wrapped her arm around his and began to walk with him. She could feel herself getting more nervous with every step but she could also feel her excitement growing. Her excitement had been getting larger and larger as the day had gone along. She had been taking in the surprises Kili had organised and the dress Sigrid had made while trying to think of what Kili had organised for their wedding. "What's this?" Tauriel asked quietly, her smile growing as she stared at the small lights in the distance. "Is it…?" she questioned, glancing up at Bard as he laughed and nodded.

"This is your wedding," Bard whispered, her smile continuing to grow as they approached the beach. She had been surprised when they had left Dale and headed in the direction of the lake. Taking in the candles that covered the beach, Tauriel bit into her lip as she looked across to see the figures in the distance.

"It's beautiful," Tauriel smiled, taking in the aisle that had been created in the beach from two lines of candles. "I can't believe this," she whispered in shock, walking down the aisle beside Bard. Kili had organised all of this for her in one day? Approaching the crowd of people slowly, Tauriel smiled at the sight of Bard's children as well as Thorin and Bofur. They had wanted a quiet wedding and they had been successful in achieving it. Kili's back was currently to her and she desperately wanted to run up to him and wrap her arms around his body.

"This is where I leave you," Bard whispered, unlinking his arm from hers before pressing a kiss to her forehead. "Congratulations Tauriel," he said quietly before moving away to join his family, the redhead breathing out as she continued to move towards Kili. She was actually getting married. This was actually her wedding.

KILI&TAURIEL

He desperately wanted to turn around and look at her. His uncle had told him that he was expected to keep his back to her for as long as possible while she walked out the aisle but he desperately wanted to look at her now. Breathing out deeply, Kili finally turned and felt the amazement appear on his face. She looked incredible. He had no words to describe how beautiful she looked, walking down the beach towards him in the candle and star light. She was dressed in a white dress that was decorated with lace, the material clinging to every curve of her changing figure while the train of it running behind her. Tauriel's red hair was flowing naturally down her shoulders naturally, decorated simply with various flowers. He couldn't believe how beautiful she looked.

"Oh wow," he whispered to himself, smiling when the redhead finally reached him and bit into her lip nervously. "You look stunning Tauriel," Kili said quietly, lacing his fingers with hers as they watched one another while Thorin moved forward to stand in front of them. "I can't believe how beautiful you look," he admitted, unable to take his eyes off her as she laughed.

"I can't believe you did all of this in one day, it's incredible. The runestone too Kili and the dress, you are so wonderful. I hadn't imagined anything like this when we discussed it last night," Tauriel said quietly. "We're getting married Kili," Tauriel whispered, smiling when the dwarf laughed at her comment and nodded; keeping a tight hold of his hand as they both looked across at Thorin, who beamed at them.

"We are here today to join together Kili and Tauriel in marriage," Thorin declared, smiling proudly at his nephew while he glanced up at the redhead. "Would you two like to say your vows?" he asked, the couple looking at each other briefly before nodding slowly. "Kili," Thorin declared, indicating for the dwarf to begin.

"Tauriel," Kili whispered, turning to face her as she nodded slowly. "You have changed my life since we met. You have been my rescuer, my prison guard, my healer and the love of my life," he smiled, squeezing her hand again as she began to blush. "And you're going to keep changing my life. You're going to be my wife from tonight onwards and in four months you're going to be the mother to my child," he beamed, falling silent when the smile disappeared off her face.

"Four months?" Tauriel asked quietly. "I think you mean six months. I'm six months pregnant," she declared as he shook his head.

"I know you're six months pregnant," Kili declared before shaking his head. "Dwarfs are pregnant for ten months," Kili admitted, the redhead pressing her free hand to her abdomen as she glanced down at the bump.

"Elves are pregnant for twelve months," Tauriel said quietly before laughing and shaking her head; aware that everyone else was smiling around them. "I guess we don't know when this little one is going to come and join us," the redhead whispered, Kili nodding as he stepped forward and moved his hand to rest against her abdomen with hers.

"Just like a child of ours, not making life easy," the dwarf muttered, her smile continuing to grow before she looked back at Thorin. "We've gone off topic," Kili admitted, Thorin nodding slowly as the young dwarf beamed and stared up at the redhead. "I can't wait for our future together. I can't wait to watch our family grow and to grow old beside you. I can't wait to see what every day brings us," he admitted, bringing her hand to his lips before gently pressing a kiss to her knuckles.

"And Tauriel," Thorin smiled, the elf nodding as she looked at her soon to be husband. She hadn't had time to think of any vows. She hadn't even thought about it.

"You saved me Kili," Tauriel admitted, unable to remove the smile from her face as Kili watched her. "I was living the same life every day; I was doing the same thing and I never left Mirkwood and then you stumbled into my life, nearly getting yourself killed and everything changed. You made me want to see things, to explore the world and to get to meet new people. You have already shown me so much," she declared, remembering the day she had realised that she was bored of her tedious life in Mirkwood. She had realised that she wanted to see fire moons and explore the various places that were outside of her woodland home. "You have given me the greatest gift by making me a mother and I can't wait to hold our child in my arms," she explained, shaking her head when tears began to fill her eyes again. "I also can't wait for these tears to stop," she whispered, smiling at the laughter that came as response from their guests. "I can't wait to finally be your wife, to finally be able to call you my husband," Tauriel declared, wiping her tears away before they both turned to face Thorin.

"As King of Erebor, I am happy to declare that Kili and Tauriel are now husband and wife," Thorin said quickly, the redhead beaming as she looked across at Kili. This was the wedding that she had wanted; quick and intimate with only their friends and Kili's family there. "Congratulations, you may now kiss the bride," the dwarf added, Kili laughing as he leant up and quickly kissed her; cheers erupting from their guests.

"Hello wife," Kili whispered against her lips, a small laugh leaving her lips as she nodded.

"Hello husband."

**So what do you think? Love it? Hate it? **


	22. Chapter 22

**I'm so so sorry for how long it has taken me to update. I don't even know why it's taken me so long but I'm so sorry for it! It's not really that long a chapter and it's more of a filler than any major plot but I thought it was quite nice to have and then I will start moving on with the story in the next chapter. **

**Thank you again for the amazing reviews you've given me. Each one is so lovely to read and I love to hear from you all so please do continue to read, and hopefully you'll continue to enjoy and review. **

He was married.

Smiling as he woke up, Kili looked across at the elf, who was fast asleep beside him. She looked so beautiful and peaceful, her face resting against his bare chest as he brushed his fingers gently through her hair, his wife's hair. She was his wife. Laughing gently at the idea, the dwarf continued to play with her hair; unable to remove the smile from his face. Tauriel was his wife now. The image of her, walking down their make shift aisle continued to amaze him. She had looked so beautiful; the white dress enhancing her figure and their growing child as she approached him with the largest grin decorating her face. His beautiful wife, she was his now. Moving his fingers from her hair, the dwarf slowly moved his hand down her side before resting it gently against her bump. He kept thinking about what their baby would look like. Would their baby look more like a dwarf or an elf? Would their child have dark hair like him or hair like fire? Would their child be able to grow a beard, something that he thought unlikely, or would they have pointed ears like Tauriel's? Their baby was going to be different. There had never been a child of elf and dwarf, at least not one he had heard of. No one knew what their baby would like; he didn't even know what their baby would look like or be like. Would their baby be graceful and elegant like the elves or would their child take after his kin?

"You're thinking too much. It's worrying," a voice interrupted his thoughts, a small laugh leaving his lips as he nodded slowly. Tauriel still had her face buried against his chest but he could feel her eyelashes against his skin and her breathing change as she began to wake up. "What are you thinking about then husband?" the redhead questioned, looking up at him slowly with a small smirk decorating her face while he continued to beam. He was her husband. This beautiful elf in his arms was going to be his wife for the rest of his life; nothing could pull them apart now. No matter what anyone said about them or their relationship, they were husband and wife. "Come on tell me," the redhead begged, the dwarf shaking his head while she moved to stare down at him; her body straddling his as his hands moved to rest against her bump. "I'm your wife now Kili, you can't keep secrets from me," she laughed, the sound like music to his ears as she leant down and brushed her lips against his. "Tell me," she whispered, her eyes staring into the dark depths of his own while he moved one of his hands away from her abdomen to brush her hair away from her face.

"I was thinking about our baby," Kili explained, looking down at her abdomen while she bit into her lip. "I was thinking about who our baby is going to take after the most," he admitted, his fingers moving gently across the bump while a small blush decorated her face. "I keep dreaming of our baby," the dwarf smiled as the redhead moved gently to lie down beside him again, resting on her side while he turned to face her. "Every night our baby changes in my dreams and I fall more and more in love with the prospect of becoming a father," Kili whispered, lacing his fingers with hers as he continued to watch him. She couldn't help but fall more and more in love with him when he talked about their baby and the future ahead of them. "I keep dreaming of curly haired babies, sometimes with red hair, sometimes with dark curls," the dwarf admitted, leaning forward to gently press a kiss to her forehead while she glanced down at her stomach. "Sometimes, I see more than one child. I imagine us with two or thmewree children."

"Two or three Kili?" Tauriel gasped in shock. She was still trying to adjust to the idea of being the mother to one baby; the idea of having three children terrified her. "I do not think I have met an elf who had three children," she said quietly, brushing her fingers gently across her abdomen as he nodded slowly. "However, I am not a normal elf," the redhead whispered, looking up at her husband as surprise decorated his face. Was she saying that she wanted more children? "I'm not promising that we will have more children but I'm not saying it won't happen," she explained, gently pressing a kiss to his lips as his smile continued to grow. "I know that dwarves have large families."

"Not all dwarf families are large but it's more common than with elves," the dwarf stated, squeezing her hand as she nodded slowly. "I don't care whether we are a small family or a huge one, I will be happy no matter what because I get to wake up to this sight every morning for the rest of my life," Kili explained, a small laugh leaving her lips as she shook her head at him. "And also because I get to say this," he added, leaning in to kiss her again before brushing his fingers across her cheek. "Hello wife," the dwarf whispered, kissing her once more while she laughed gently; slowly moving away from him before she rested her head against his chest again. "Did you imagine when you imprisoned me that I would steal your heart?" he asked quietly, his fingers playing with her hair again while she gently pressed a kiss against his chest. "And that you would steal mine," he whispered, remembering the days when he had sat in his prison cell and admired her, had allowed himself to begin to fall in love with her through prison bars. "If I could go back and tell myself that the beautiful redhead that I couldn't take my eyes off would become my wife, I would just stay to see myself laugh at the whole idea," Kili smiled, Tauriel glancing up at him before kissing him gently again.

"Well I now know what's in your trousers," Tauriel whispered against his lips, both of them laughing loudly at the memory. "This was never the future I imagined for myself but now that it's here, I can't think of a life without you, or this baby Kili," Tauriel admitted quietly, moving to bury her face into his neck while he smiled gently. "I'm going to be the best wife and mother to you both," the redhead whispered against his skin. "And I'm sorry if I make a mistake."

"I don't want you to be anyone but who you are. You are already the greatest wife and I know you will be a fantastic mother," the dwarf responded immediately, brushing his fingers through her hair as she remained cuddled against him. "Never doubt how wonderful you are Tauriel," Kili continued, a small smile decorating his face as he continued to watch her. "My beautiful wife," he whispered, leaning down to gently press a kiss into her hair while she laughed lightly. "I have something that I want you to have," he declared, the redhead glancing up at him as he nodded slowly and moved out of the bed; quickly moving towards a drawer before he opened it slowly. Watching him take something out of it, Tauriel slowly sat up and held the sheet around her naked body; smiling when he approached her again and sat down on the edge of the bed. "This belongs to you," he whispered, the elf glancing down at his opened his hand to reveal the runestone.

"But…" she began before falling silent. How could it belong to her? She had returned to him, they had found each other again; she was never going to leave him.

"I want you to have it," Kili declared, leaning forward to kiss her gently as she smiled against his lips. "As a promise, that nothing will separate us again," he whispered, falling silent when the redhead slowly nodded and moved her hands away from the sheet to reach from the necklace around her neck. He had always seen it decorating her neck but he had never commented on it. Removing it slowly, Tauriel bit into her lip as she reached for his hand and gently pressed the chain into his palm before moving his fingers to cover it.

"For you," Tauriel whispered, shock covering his face as he glanced down at his hand before looking back up at her. "I have nothing else of any value to give you Kili," she said quietly, leaning across to kiss him gently while he pressed the runestone into her hand; the redhead smiling as she took hold of it; holding it tightly in her hand. The last time she had seen it, she had been pressing it into Kili's lifeless hands; believing that she would never see him again. Resting the runestone on her lap, the redhead glanced down to see Kili's fingers running across her necklace.

"It's beautiful," Kili whispered as she nodded, remembering how excited she had been when she had been given it.

"It was a gift," the redhead admitted, his eyebrows rising as she took the necklace from his hands and slowly did it up around his neck; smiling when the pendant rested against his chest. "My father gave it to me," she said quietly, moving to brush her fingers across the pendant while he watched with a small smile on his face.

"You have never discussed your father before," Kili said quietly.

"He died, along with my mother, when I was very young," Tauriel admitted, moving to cuddle into Kili's side as he relaxed back against the pillows. "I was practically a baby really," she whispered, her fingers lacing with his as he remained silent; listening to her story. He had always wondered about Tauriel's childhood but she had never discussed it. "We were in the forest, it was much nicer back then, and these orcs appeared. My parents told me to climb a tree and I did, I climbed as high as I could, it was so high," she said quietly, shutting her eyes as she buried her face into his chest. "I saw them. I saw them kill my mother and father," Tauriel whispered, his fingers brushing through her hair. She could remember her parent's shouts, the sounds of fighting and then the last breaths of her parents as they were slaughtered in front of her. She had clung so tightly to that tree, refusing to come down. "I held onto that tree so tightly Kili, I wasn't ever going to let go," she mumbled, tears running down her cheeks while Kili kept her close. "Thranduil found me."

"Thranduil?" Kili asked in shock, the redhead glancing up as she nodded.

"He heard about the attack and rode out with members of the guard. He saw me in the trees and climbed up to get me because I refused to move," the redhead whispered, her fingers running across his chest as she sighed. "I still refused to come down, even with the King of Mirkwood sat beside me," she smiled. "I knew he was. I had seen him once before, I think, and everyone knew what our King looked like," the redhead declared. "He moved closer to me and cuddled me in his arms, he told me that he would never let anyone hurt me again," Tauriel said quietly, tears running down her cheeks as the dwarf slowly moved his hand to rest against her cheek, nudging her head so she was looking up at him. "Thranduil took me in, treated me like I was his daughter," the redhead explained.

"I never knew," Kili whispered as she shook her head.

"I don't talk about my parents very often," Tauriel said quietly, smiling weakly when he leant down and kissed her gently. "I don't remember them very well," the redhead whispered, reaching down to find the runestone before holding it tightly in her hand again. "I don't know whether they would have approved of me becoming Captain of the Guard instead of being good at more feminine pursuits," she laughed gently. "I don't know whether they would have hated me for abandoning Mirkwood to rescue you or whether they would have approved. I don't know whether they would have loved you and our baby," she mumbled. "Our baby has your uncle, has a whole family of dwarves who will love them but only Legolas…" she began, shaking her head as she glanced down at her abdomen.

"Our baby will be loved," Kili declared, pressing a kiss into her hair again before smiling. "This is the most wonderful gift," the dwarf whispered, moving his hand to brush against the necklace while she smiled weakly. "But I cannot keep it if it is the only thing you have left of your family Tauriel," he said quietly, reaching up for the clasp but stopping when she grabbed hold of his hand.

"You are my family now, I want you to have it."

**So what do you think? I know nothing really happens in this chapter but I promise to update either tonight or tomorrow with a more exciting chapter. **


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